Narrowboat Wilshamstead

Moving on from Weedon, tackling tunnels with a 60 watt bulb & apologies to the Jaguar owner...

2010-09-25T20:57:00.000+01:00

The trees are changing colour and it has been noticably colder when we've been cruising lately, autumn must be here. Let's hope it doesn't bring the dreaded Autumn Blight (the condition in which one's raw water intake becomes so seriously blocked by dead leaves that engine temperatures begin to rise and the normal exhaust is replaced by billowing clouds of white smoke) with it this year... I glare at dead leaves that dare float too close to us now...

It seems strange to think that it's a year ago this week that Wils and I joined the Thames from the Oxford Canal. The living arrangements, priorities (and living conditions!) were very different then, but the sense of total enjoyment hasn't diminshed in the slightest. This year we've ended up following the same route as it happens, though we're behind last year's schedule, geographically, being somewhere near the top of the Oxford Canal, not the bottom of it!

Jem and I are pleased to report that our attempt to conquer Blisworth Tunnel recently was a success, our fitted tunnel light being still out of action we had to resort to other means - turns out a floor lamp fitted with a regular 60 watt bulb angled towards the tunnel roof from inside the front doors makes for more than ample tunnel lighting! Too many times we've been nearly blinded by excessive lights fitted to oncoming boats, but we were hesitant when faced with the prospect of going through with so little illumination... With the interior lights on and our brave and trusty floor lamp firmly rooted in the saloon we set off, and it worked like a charm! Good to know, tomorrow we plough ever onward and tackle Braunston tunnel again.

We spent some time at Weedon before moving today, and we can strongly recommend a visit to the small greengrocers in the square! A large amount of the fruit and veg are locally produced, and the place has the feel of a genuine, family run business, a pleasing contrast to the grim experience of the chain-owned miniature supermarket nearby... Try the plums while they're still in season! DELICIOUS!

We acquired diesel and water at Whilton this morning, and the issue of whether or not we need a new hosepipe, or pipe fitting at any rate, drags ever on - attaching said pipe to the faucet at Whilton resulted in a perfectly powerful and speedy filling of the tank - but also in a thin but persistent jet of water erupting from the connection that was hastily blown by the wind directly onto the shiny Jaguar parked between Wils and the faucet! If that was your Jag and you're annoyed, I'm sorry. But it's only water, so stop moaning.

Tonight we're moored in the wooded stretch just before Braunston tunnel, it's a popular spot by the looks of things... We were lucky enough to come through Buckby locks with a lovely bloke whose name escapes me - he works as a RYA instructor on the sea as well as the inland waterways, he was delivering a boat from somewhere near the Fens all the way round to Nottingham, a long journey by the sounds of it! Nice to have some company on that stretch of locks!

Here's Jem enjoying the weather somewhere on the Buckby flight:

I look confused:

Jem enjoys the prospect of yet another bridge, just after Norton Junction I think:

We've got the stove on this evening to warm our bones, personally I don't know why people bother with any other form of heating, we couldn't be more snug! Although at this time of year it might have been a little OTT to go for the ROARING VOLCANO setting on the air holes... If it got me through that last winter I have no doubts as to its ability to do the same again this year! Anyway, the laptop is losing the will to live so I'll have to leave it there. For now...

The return after much radio silence...

2010-09-16T23:04:00.000+01:00

It's certainly been a long time since anything was written here! The usual commitments personal and professional are to blame. The truth is it's been a bit of a rollercoaster for us over the last six months, not to mention the last few days for Jem and I, which saw us climbing aboard Wils again only two days ago for what we imagined would be our final voyage. After very lengthy consideration and a great deal of heartache we were planning to sell the boat and move on to pastures new.

Less than forty eight hours onboard convinced us otherwise. A major shuffling of all manner of commitments will be required now but our love of this way of life, of everything that living aboard has opened us up to, is far too much for us to abandon just yet. We love this all to bits! So, as of this post (back on Blogger again, where it belongs!), Jem and I consider ourselves canal dwellers still!

Having spent the best part of six months in Milton Keynes, we've moved a little way north on the Grand Union for now, our heads buzzing with plans and logistics, cities to aim for and ways to make the liveaboard life work for us again.

Gadzooks! The laptop is about to die so I have to be brief, but the long and short of it is this - we're staying put and here's to the ongoing adventure - CHAPTER TWO!

First Ducklings!

2010-05-05T16:59:00.000+01:00

I know I'm not the first to have blogged about the arrival of this year's ducklings, but I promised myself I'd finally get around to adding an entry here as soon as I saw them. And saw them I 'ave!

In the process of moving from Bolbeck Park in the northern half of Milton Keynes to Milton Keynes Marina at Peartree Bridge (in the south of the town) to get a pumpout and fill up with diesel, they were near the water point with their parents, extremely small balls of yellow and black fluff! All sixteen of them!

Moored up again at Campbell Park, I noticed another group of four. In fact, one has just gone past the window, frantically tailing mum by about a tenth of an inch!

I expect they'll be getting into the habit of chewing noisily on the weed just below the water line on Wils in the very near future... Oh joy!

So here I am, still in Milton Keynes for the time being, working on a number of things, including completing my training as a care worker.

I have had some company onboard recently:

I'm pretty certain he belongs to the good folks on the widebeam Our Lucy (seen above) whose movements have been very similar to my own recently, we have been mooring at Giffard Park and Campbell Park with almost identical timing over the last few weeks! He was particularly curious about the wool I've been spinning recently, trying to paw it as soon as it's spun! I'm spinning a great deal at the moment for two reasons, I need to make some curtains for the front windows of Wils, which I thought I really should do from scratch because I can, and I need to make a soft liner for my camping hammock.

I used my hammock recently, over May Day weekend I took it up to Salcey Forest, near the village of Hartwell, Northants. It's a Hennessy hammock, and I think a photo will explain it better than I could in words!

It's smaller than a tent when packed away, lighter to carry, more comfortable than sleeping on the ground and far quicker to set up and pack away! Of course the night I chose to head to Salcey would be the night of the thunderstorm and torrential rain... All good fun though! The owls were very loud and the pheasants nearby didn't like the thunder. It is essentially two parts, the main sleeping section and a waterproof fly sheet over that. The top half of the sleeping section is all mosquito net, entrance is from underneath! Luckily the weight of the occupant holds it shut once you're inside... The only thing it's lacking is a bit more protection from the cold underneath you, hence the soft woollen liner I'm creating. Getting home on the Sunday was interesting! I walked the mile or so into Hartwell from the forest, to realise there are no buses whatsoever going anywhere from Hartwell on Sundays. Huff. But there's one leaving from nearby Hanslope in about 55 minutes! Unfortunately the country walk from one village to the other takes about an hour, and I missed the bus there by 5 minutes... Huff. The rain was picking up by this time too, and the next (and final) bus from Hanslope was four hours off. Huff. So onto Castlethorpe! Now, in the right shoes, with some decent weather this would make an amazing walk. Sadly I had neither of these things! By the time I reached Castlethorpe I had already stuck out my thumb to every vehicle that went past, and was met by the most common responses to hitchhikers in this country nowadays, which are as follows:

"What? People still hitchhike?!" (by the time it's sunk in, they're already half a mile away...)
"Don't slow down, Dear! Whatever you do, DON'T SLOW DOWN!"
"Don't look him in the eye! If we pretend we haven't seen him, it's not our fault if we don't stop."

These, in short, are the three most common responses I get when trying to hitch in this country. It's different if you're a couple, if you're holding pizza, a baby, a musical instrument case or a petrol can or if you're a single girl, preferably without a backpack. Huff.

Eventually a car that had previously gone past me turned around and came back for me! Andy the Gas Man, you are a true legend! Andy was on his way to plant green beans, he kindly dropped me in Wolverton where I was able to get a bus to Great Linford and slowly crawl back to the boat from there! Quite a trip!

I also attended the Woburn Classic Car Show on bank holiday monday, Tom and I went down in his Renault 4! Here is Tom looking very excited to be exhibiting his car with the Renault Classic Car Club:

It was an excellent day, and it has inspired me to get my Fiat 500 going again after a sorry 8 years or so in the garage! Photos of that progress to follow shortly! I hope we can both drive to the next meeting/event together and display both cars!

On the whole the weather has been amazing...

Coincidental Ongoing Coverage of NB Caxton!

2010-04-08T11:16:00.000+01:00

Thanks to the wonders of mobile blogging, and in the spirit of my incidental coverage of their progress through this neck of the woods, I can report that NB Caxton has passed Campbell Park!

Well I have to do something with my mornings...

Sleeping Seven Onboard, Tunnels, Lambs, Darts, Ale & Mangle Bidding!

2010-04-07T19:30:00.000+01:00

So I probably should have comemorated the first anniversary of Jem and I moving onboard on the 31st March, but apart from having little to report I was too busy preparing the boat for the imminent invasion!

For the past few days I've had six of my old uni housemates staying on Wils. We started in Milton Keynes, went north as far as Gayton Junction and returned to the same point. It was an amazing chance to have everyone together again, and the weather was generally kind to us. Sleeping seven people onboard turns out to be no problem at all! The stretch we covered took in a lock flight, urban and rural stretches, impressive pub food, many a dart board, Blisworth Tunnel and the perennially busy Stoke Bruerne, not bad for five days really!

As we came through Stoke Bruerne it was a great surprise to pass NB Caxton, whose blog was one of the first Boaters' Blogs I started reading over a year ago! This is the best photo I could take:

I have been furiously bidding on mangles online, it seems they sell for surprisingly large sums, given that there seem to be so many about for sale, and that most are in advanced states of disrepair, which surprised me most for the fact that for most people they seem to serve little purpose more than that of garden ornaments. Moored at Campbell Park tonight, I'll be moving on to pastures new tomorrow, but I'm still not certain where that might be exactly...

Me Toby: Receiver of Licenses, Washer of Clothes, Putter-Upper of Washing Lines!

2010-03-23T12:38:00.000Z

In other words, Wils is now adorned with shiny new purple license squares! Has it been a year already? Well, very nearly, it'll be one year since Jem and I moved onboard a week tomorrow.

Today, out of unequivocal necessity, is washday. The amount of clothes that can be strung over, near, around and past the stove is minimal, and so began the construction of a washing line! Using rope already onboard, a couple of pieces of driftwood and the old barge pole that I broke on the ice some weeks ago. Amazing what you can knock together! No nails, screws, glue - or any real protection from heavy winds... I think a couple of guy-ropes would be a good idea. It's a work in progress!

Needless to say, as soon as the clothes went up, the rain came down! It's still spitting a bit, even now... Of course it was sunny when I was pounding the living daylights out of the clothes with the posser, sunny when I rung them out, sunny when I built and put up the line - nevermind, eh?

A Plumbing Adventure

2010-03-21T08:01:00.002Z

Powering down to Fenny Stratford two days ago, I visited Halfords in Bletchley to get a new inner tube fitted to my bike and then I tried Wickes next door for a few plumbing supplies that I required for the upcoming plumbing adventure. Having an extremely limited stock in place and a distinct lack of customer service I decided in the end to go elsewhere... To Travis Perkins in fact, which was (as in Banbury) practically canal fronting! I think someone's twigged that boaters need building supplies on a regular basis! Maybe.

The plumbing adventure itself consisted of capping off two pipes, and then removing the sink from the bedroom and the tabletop into which it was set. A relatively simple job, even for someone whose plumbing experience is firmly established at absolute zero. It took the best part of a day (Friday) to get it done, and involved the following highlights: failing to secure one connection properly and having a classic comedy moment in which the jet of water sprays directly into one's face, and, even more hilarious-and-swear-inducingly; cutting the cold water pipe at the wrong point, effectively relieving the bathroom of its cold water supply. Oops.

But a few hours and another trip to TP later all was well again, pipes cut in the right place and one sink firmly cut off from the system.

Yesterday I had the far easier job of removing the sink and cutting the tabletop. I moved Wils from the 24hr moorings just above Fenny Lock (the one with the swingbridge INSIDE the lock) to our current location just south of Milton Keynes Marina first thing in the morning, then set to work in the afternoon. The journey from Fenny to Peartree Bridge was conducted exclusively in the rain, but no matter.

Along this stretch I came across the same television set that has been floating in the same stretch of canal for at least three months:

How does a TV float?! Is glass buoyant enough to keep it up, despite being the heaviest part of the set? Answers in a comment!

Last night, just before we lost the light altogether, I got a coat of primer on the newly exposed woodwork which I'm attacking with a paintbrush today. It's a cold morning again, but the stove stayed in overnight, just enough to keep me in the land of the living anyway.

I should have an old railway lantern waiting for me at the Royal Mail depot, which I am hoping to be able to fetch ASAP. I'm also trying to decide on the best place to mount it inside... The problem is that the canal runs along the east side of Milton Keynes, and the depot is right over on the west side of town. Good thing I got that inner tube replaced... Suppose I should get the brakes working again at some point...

Wilshamstead: Formerly White Stork & Towpath Tree Planting Photos!

2010-03-18T14:21:00.003Z

Knowing that Wils is an ex-hireboat, today I scoured the net briefly to see if I could find any mention of her days as a hireboat - and here it is!

It's the only reference I could find and there can be no question, this is our Wils! Back then she was known as White Stork and was part of the Alvechurch fleet. The page is a record created by a Mr Nigel Bromley, it forms part of his personal website, he's a canal enthusiast amongst many other things it seems. He and his wife Cath were onboard White Stork in August 1996 - Nigel claims 38 seperate canal holidays/voyages, of which their time on Wils was number 22, which is a very relevant number for me - AND they now live right here in Milton Keynes, my hometown AND the place I'm currently moored! This is getting creepy...

Nigel claims an interest in canal restoration - so if he's active in this interest in this area there's a good chance he's a member of the BCS and has already received his recent copies of The Buckingham Navigator, on whose front cover is a tiny photo of me, kneeling next to the boat he once spent two weeks onboard!

Still with me?!

Nigel goes through an extremely comprehensive inventory of the boat, which proves that Wils has had little or no improvements/changes made since then! Until now, of course. Nigel even mentions that the BMC engine was "a bit noisy"! Right on, Nige!

He mentions that they hired the boat from Gayton Marina, which makes sense with the Alvechurch connection, but I've always wondered where White Stork was berthed before she went feral...

It's strange that Nigel mentions the clock/barometer combo device in his 'diary extracts', the very one that ended its existence yesterday!

In other news, it's noticeably warmer these days. In a boat which is necessarily so well ventilated for safety reasons, you become very aware of the ambient temperature at all times... Yesterday marked the first day I wore a t-shirt from morning to night! Epic times.

And now, a few photos from the recent tree planting with the BCS:

The lock is Hyde Lane Lock, near Deanshanger, between Buckingham and Milton Keynes, which is in the process of being lovingly restored by the BCS. There are only two locks on the Buckingham Arm, which is probably a blessing from a financial point of view!

More Decorating, Sunny Days in Campbell Park and a Wintry Video at Blisworth Tunnel

2010-03-17T20:46:00.000Z

Interior decoration is the current occupation here onboard the good ship, and I must enjoy something about it because as eight o'clock rolled around this morning, I found myself with a paintbrush in hand, finally redoing the paint on the front doors/windows which was beginning to look a little sore. Not satisifed with merely painting, I set about reattaching the wooden surrounds that frame the windows there, which we had to remove all those months ago when Martin Kedian fitted our stainless steel water tank. The pieces I could find are now reattached and the doors in the saloon are looking far better already.

How's this for a blue sky?!

Taken yesterday in Campbell Park, Central Milton Keynes, where, it turns out, many fine minutes may be had sans footwear and armed with a premium book.

Above: Wils (just visible!) at the extremely bright Campbell Park.

I found myself staring at the (broken and rusting) clock-and-barometer ensemble on the wall this morning too, and it's full hideousness was all too clear to me at that moment! So out with the tools again and down it came. In a short time the wooden backing board for said ensemble was transformed into a mount for the 12v socket at that end, I know it's disproportionately large for the size of the fitting, but I actually rather like it!

The next thing that end of the boat needs is a nifty solution to the problem of curtains... But I have a plan for that, more to follow soon.

I have to give a mention of the boat that's moored next to me:

The photo doesn't begin to do her justice, she's a beauty! Trad design but just modern enough, large portholes all the way along, I don't know exactly what it is about her, I just love it!

And, in closing, a short video of me emerging at the Stoke Bruerne end of Blisworth Tunnel earlier in the year, only because - because - ?

Planting Trees, Eliza Carthy and SUNSHINE!

2010-03-15T10:40:00.002Z

Yesterday I could be found with the Buckingham Canal Society at the site where the canal walks through wildlife reserve territory between Buckingham and Milton Keynes, putting faces to names and planting trees! Altogether we planted 100 saplings of buckthorn, blackthorn, hawthorn, dogwood, and others whose names I can't remember, that in time will (re)form the towpath hedge after the canal leaves Deanshanger. Photos to follow shortly!

Long lines of trees that I've been driven/driving past in the car all my life now have a new significance, being of course the location of the old canal, particularly visible at the Deanshanger roundabout, no more than fifty metres along as you come off the roundabout onto the road towards Milton Keynes. Whether or not the newly restored one will follow this exact route again seems to be the latest hot topic of debate!

On the sensible side of life, I sorted out another year's worth of membership to River Canal Rescue, which, despite being unsatisfied with their service on more than occasion, seems to be the only option for someone single-handing without expert mechanical knowledge. I know some marinas offer breakdown service, but how likely is it that you're going to break down near them?! And in all honesty, they HAVE saved Wils on a couple of occasions, so no complaining, it's done for another year.

A few nights ago my ma and I went to see the Eliza Carthy Band at The Stables here in Milton Keynes, now I didn't know much of their stuff before we went, but it was an extraordinarily good performance, the eccentricity and chaotic arrangement of Tom Waits meets English folk music - small enough to be intimate but big enough for atmosphere, the band was super-tight, and so into it that it was infectious! Any band sporting a 'headbanging-stand-up-and-dance-everywhere-whilst-playing' cellist is okay in my book! Amazing piano, double bass, drums and harmonies too. They get the Wilshamstead seal of approval!

*applause*

Here in Milton Keynes we've been blessed with three days of glorious sunshine, and the temptation to cruise today is overwhelming! Sitting in the cratch at sundown yesterday with a mug of Indian chai reading Walden made me realise what I like so much about living on the canal, it's the meditative, magnetic quality of the scene, few places I've been to have such a power to make you feel instantly sleepy... It's also the sky. Ice blue, crisp and bafflingly wide, and the water, which is essentially a second sky, it's trees glowing and firework birds! It's ropes and poles, rust and hatches, flames in the stove, animals EVERYWHERE, the smell of the coal, the feel of rugs, woollen clothing that you simply can't avoid in the winter, thorny hedges and sawn logs, materials with genuine textures, the natural encouragement to touch them, and a palpable invitation to activity! And to find just lying around me all the fuel I need to stay warm, some of the food I need. Not to mention the peace and quiet, the bustling activity at the summer locks - it's like I said a long time ago on here, spending time rather than spending money, not just to save money but rather more to actively embrace the time consuming jobs, collecting wood, lighting a fire, tying knots, weaving rugs, writing songs. It's most heavily a question of quality than a question of economics. I feel quite energized by the sun today! Can you tell?!

No, the weather is far too fine to be sat indoors typing this, meet me on the roof in ten!

Pop Pop Ponyo, Peter Payne's Pulsejets & Pianos: Past Predilection & Present Procrastination!

2010-03-10T19:01:00.000Z

Still in Milton Keynes, where every wood hunting trip reveals an increasing amount of miniature greenery pushing its way sunwards, so spring can't be too far away... Final amendments for the spring issue of the Navigator are done and dusted, the issue will be available to view via the website of the Buckingham Canal Society in the near future.

It's been relatively warm in the days here when the sun is out, but the mornings can still bring a canal solid enough for ducks to walk across - just! - and more icy windows to wake up to...

When I haven't been painting walls and doors inside Wils, I've been looking into a number of cunning projects on the technological front... Recently seeing the fantastic Ponyo on the big screen got me scouting the internet for information on 'pop pop' engines, such as those featured in the film. Despite a wave of naysaying concerning their potential for use outside of retro toy manufacture, I eventually stumbled onto the work of Peter Payne, and his pulsejets in particular - in short the pulsejet (the technical name for a pop pop engine) is just about the simplest engine ever devised, and by way of the best introduction to their operation is such in toys - search youtube, there are loads of videos of them in use. Peter Payne worked at developing their use in full sized boats, though from what I've read so far his experiments took place in small rowing boats on the whole. It seems that once you scale up the engine, the physics that allowed the water present in the engine to act as piston, working fluid, exhaust propellant etc all in one broke down and the whole subject requires a lot more work. Even multiplying the number of small engines you have wouldn't take you far in a narrowboat weighing in at around ten tons. His work can be found here:

Peter Payne's Pulsejets

So the investigation into an alternative propellant for Wils goes on... I'm not happy continuing to use a diesel engine for a number of reasons, and I'm not satisfied to give up looking for an alternative just because they're unusual. On this topic I was reminded that narrowboats powered by electric motors save 25% on their BW license fees every year... And with the production/acquisition/creation of wood-fired generators and wind turbines within the grasp of amateur wizards and inventors - I can see a way of making this work! More on that as it develops...

The space I will gain from removing the sink and tabletop in the bedroom is begging me to install a piano in it, but I've not seen one quite small enough yet...

Happily it turns out that I didn't interrupt a live radio interview that Athina (chairman of the BCS) was giving on her narrowboat, Brown Trout, when they came past me at Campbell Park! I caught a glimpse of them going past and decided the wisest course of action was to tear down the boat, throw open the stern door and yell "Hello!" mid-interview! Oops. I think the reporter was a little baffled, probably writing me off as some kind of one-man Parks Trust/Waterways Cheer Squad. I'm just glad Athina recognised me!

Life on a Salvaged Car Ferry and MORE ICE!

2010-03-05T10:43:00.000Z

What's with all the ICE?! We still have blazing sunshine from 'ere to there, and ice, ice, more ice on the canal! I'm getting a little sick of ice but as of this morning, it's back. It's not thick, but it's there. Grrrowwl.

Just a quick post this morning to mention the following because it's AMAZING!

American blogger and houseboat dweller Leslie posted recently about an architect who salvaged a car ferry and made a home of it! I'd LOVE to see more photos inside. Also, the rest of Leslie's blog is well worth a look.

I can hear something walking across the roof, I love it when that happens!

And there goes NB Autumn Glory, breaking up the ice. Gawd bless 'em!

Golden Dinosaurs!

2010-03-04T20:48:00.000Z

Over a month since the last post! Arrrhhh, the shame!

It's been an extremely hectic "just over a month" too, until recently I was still under the impression that I was hemmed in by Winter Stoppages on all sides, but that appears to no longer be the case. So here I am, still in the vague vicinity of Milton Keynes, and starting to feel like one of the gang, I recognise nearly every boat that goes by! And on that note, there are noticably more boats moving on this part of the system now, brought out no doubt by the good weather in the last few days. Speaking of good weather, today marks a particularly auspicious moment in my career as a professional bilge rat, as it was the first time I've opened a window since about September! Epic times.

Jem has been to the boat on two seperate occasions for a total of nearly a fortnight, and we made excellent progress on the interior decoration we had planned. It's a work in progress, the list of jobs to do on Wils seems to get longer, not shorter! It was great to have her back onboard briefly.

The last few days have seen me feverishly throwing together the Spring Issue of the Buckingham Navigator for the Buckingham Canal Society, which I have been working on all day today while the sun shone outside... Nevermind.

I haven't quite been brave enough to let the stove die out for good yet... But, like I said to the lady at Milton Keynes Marina yesterday, I think that'll probably be the last few bags of coal I'll need this year. Although apparently I was about the tenth person to say so this week! To anyone considering using the services at Milton Keynes Marina, there's a nifty bit of manouvering to be done to get at the facilities! Plenty of room to do it in, but it's quite an interesting test of your 3-point turn abilities!Have fun!

Here is Wils against the backdrop of ubiquitous poplar trees that line the canal through most of the town, when we were moored at Campbell Park a fortnight ago:

And then moored around the corner, poplar trees still in evidence:

Yesterday I spent close to £800, which nearly brought on unfortunate medical repercussions, on coal, a pumpout, diesel, and another year's worth of insurance and licensing! Fortunately I only paid half what I paid last year for insurance, which is a blessing. I calculated my monthly outgoings for life onboard, trying to take every little thing into account, including license and a conservative guess at unexpected repairs, food, diesel, chocolate milk supplies, everything - which, for those interested, came to £325 a month by my reckoning, not bad methought, considering that's EVERYTHING I'm spending.

I've decided to stick with this boating lark until the coloured band on the BW license matches the paintwork, and then I'm off. Not really. Good old random decision making though, can't fault it, chaos might just be the best tool for deciding the big decisions in life in a chaotic world... I had a friend who travelled around Europe and based her next move on which way the stick pointed, or whether the coin landed heads or tails, I believe a pack of tarot cards sent her to North Africa in the end, but that's another story.

I plan to remain in the vague area of MK until the beginning of April when my old uni housemates from Lampeter are descending on Wils and I en masse! Ever tried to sleep 8 people on a 4 berth narrowboat?! We might have to! Luckily there are camping facilities along our planned route. It's going to be a mad Easter weekend... Oh, and it's amazing how you can live in one town for most of your life and never realise an enormous golden dinosaur lives just around the corner...

I discovered him today. His name is Philip.

Still Manacled to New Bradwell, Local Exploration & I'm being Spied Upon!

2010-01-20T22:00:00.000Z

Checking Google Reader just now revealed that the scallywags on NB Albert have been taking sly photos of Wils! The rambunctious swines! Of course I am extremely flattered, this is a first for me, a post in someone else's blog with not only a mention of Wils, but a photo too! COR! It must have been taken the day before we moved south (slightly).

Thank you NB Albert!

I did glance over Kingfisher Marina for signs of you but I couldn't find you!

Being stuck in a boat in the ice in Milton Keynes has, it turns out, many up-sides. Like discovering a beehive in the woods with lots of fallen comb...

And numerous creepy logs...

Ok, so in truth I'm a little bored. ALL the washing up is done. The floor is swept. The doilies are aired. The T'ang Statues in the East Wing are dusted. Really, the deeds perpetrated by boredom on a dirty boat are quite unimaginable.

Halted by Ice Again!

2010-01-18T20:48:00.000Z

An early start saw me stoking the fire that had stayed in overnight (HURRAY! I'm getting good at this...) and taking on coal and fuel as soon as Yardley Wharf opened. Then onto Cosgrove, and the sun was shining! I had planned to stop at Cosgrove, but upon arrival there at 11am, it seemed like the right time to go still further. Not to mention the fact that I had no internet signal, and nothing else to do...

So I pushed on towards Milton Keynes in the sunshine, the view over the aquaduct just below Cosgrove was amazing.

I approached the second aquaduct, over the road, and saw the figure of my mum walking towards me along the towpath! Thus this photo was possible:

THANKS MUM!

All went wildly awry, however, not long after that. It turns out that a short stretch of the canal in New Bradwell is shaded so perfectly that no dent has yet been made in the ice there! So here I am! Another in a growing number of boats held up on one side of a very thick (and equally short) stretch of ice!

Tomorrow I go out in the morning with a very large stick or a brick on a string to see whether it could be sufficiently broken up from the bank...Here's praying for sunshine and extraordinarily localised global warming for once, industrial lasers accidentally misdirected onto the canal here from the Super X-Ray Deathbeam Satellite, or just a duck with a hairdryer, the usual...

The Iceman - erm - Goeth?

2010-01-17T20:26:00.000Z

To echo the sound that seems to be resounding around the system at the moment - I can add the Yardley Gobion stretch of the Grand Union to the list of locations no longer in the grip of ice! So tomorrow will start with the replenishing of fuel/water/coal supplies, and then moving on to Cosgrove.

I recently added the finishing touches to the Winter 2009 Issue of The Buckingham Navigator, which will be available on the Buckingham Canal Society website soon. I will link to it when it's available.

Glad as I am to have fluid surroundings back again, I'm not so happy with what the ice seems to have done to the paintwork on the stern... Blacking the hull isn't too far off so I can probably touch up the paint then. It's certainly warmer onboard, down to just three layers of clothing already, I mean it's practically a heatwave...

Now to analyse the finances, prompt payment for a license is due soon! Can it really have been a year already? Nearly!

The Floor & the Ceiling are now Precisely Where They Should Be! Musing on a Route for 2010... & Many Photographs...

2010-01-12T22:47:00.000Z

I'm happy to say that work has been progressing well and as a result of which the new floor is now down in the saloon! Which means I have the use of the table back and I have the ability to have guests to stay! Including couchsurfers, to whom I will be opening my doors (bow and stern) very soon, perhaps once the weather warms up a bit.

I came across two seperate references to the retreat of the ice in the canal blogging world, so here's hoping we will be able to move again soon! Saying that, I have no doubt that as the weather warms up and the hire/summer boaters begin to creep back into view, some of us might even look back fondly on White January...

In other news, I'm sorry to say that Jem will not be returning to boat life with me. As part of her ongoing recovery she is completely engaged down south indefinately.

As everyone else on the system seems to be saying at the moment, what else is there to post online but more photographs of the snow?! So here goes!

I'm engaged most evenings poring over the waterways charts by candlelight, my compasses grasped in hand, quaffing rum and waiting for the ice to clear... (What? That's mostly true...) Having covered the Southern Waterways with the exception of the K&A and the disconnected sections, I'm thinking that a journey of epic proportions in a north-westerly direction is the thing... Perhaps the word I'm looking for right now is:

Llangollen?

Yardley Gobion Wharf: Then & Now!

2010-01-11T20:33:00.003Z

My mum took both of these photos in another of the worst winters in living memory, the dreaded winter of '81. I thought that, given our current white-out, and the fact that I'm moored right on the spot - what better time could there be for another Then & Now?! So here goes...

(Note the fact that there's no Kingfisher Marina in 1981! Other than that, not much changes on some parts of the cut in 30 years or so, eh? Why should it?)

1981

2010

1981

2010

Back Onboard! Snowbound for sure... Making hot water bottles for the engine...

2010-01-05T23:12:00.000Z

So now I'm back onboard the good ship after the frolics of Christmas and New Year, both of which were supremely good fun. All of my hoping that the coldest weather was behind us seems to have been in vain! It's snowing real powder snow, here at Yardley Gobion right now!See?!

Mum and I arrived at the boat this afternoon, armed with supplies including petrol for the generator and some food, which is always nice... After puncturing a four-pinter on I-can't-fathom-what, and duly spraying milk all over the bedroom unwittingly, it was time to begin the fun of coaxing the engine back to life after more than a week of sitting idly in sub-zero temperatures. Oil topped up, electric keys plugged in, raw water valve opened - I thought it prudent to check in the water filter for signs of ice - and ice there was! Not a solid lump but a strange 3D latticework of the stuff... I squeezed a couple of the water lines and heard a disconcerting crunching sound...

I attempted to turn over the engine, but something was wrong - I noticed that the water pump belt was not moving! So next job was to get into the impeller housing and -

Okay, fast forward to the juicy bits because you're a busy person, right? You don't want ALL the details!

Short version is: I had to resort to using a hot water bottle to warm up most of the water lines around the engine! In the end it worked just fine, and despite grumbling at the beginning she was ticking over happily within seconds, while Mum did sterling work getting the stove going.

We bought a bag of coal, which is doing wonders in the stove this evening. It's my first night with coal on, and what a difference! It seems warmer throughout the boat, and requires far, far less attention than relying solely on wood. Wood which has sap in it, sap which runs down the flue and stinks!

Officially they're saying it's the coldest winter in the UK for 30 years, which makes it the coldest winter I've ever lived through! And it's turned out to be the winter I'm on a narrowboat... HURRAY! If it's this desolate and wonderfully bleak opposite a Marina with a village nearby, I can only dream what it must be like for the lucky souls moored out in the wild stretches of nowhere! The lonely stretch near the north end of the Oxford Canal springs to mind...

It seems like everyone else blogging from the canals is going nowhere either! We're a community of stationary nomads for now... I hope everyone on the system can easily access water and similar essential facilities. I'm lucky enough to be directly opposite the wharf here so facilities could hardly be nearer. If this continues for much longer we'll be saying to each other; "Ahhh, I remember when those thin bungalows at the bottom of the hill used to MOVE!" And our Grandchildren (of the post-apocalyptic-winter generation) will scarce believe us.

Tomorrow morning I'm on an adventure with my camera, so expect a photo-laden post tomorrow! Now I'm off to explore exceptional whisky and science fiction at the same time.

A couple of recent photos, just 'cos...

Red Wolves, Frozen Lines & THE BLIZZARD BEGINS!

2009-12-18T17:36:00.000Z

My first day's cruising in the snow! Aside from not being able to get the lines to do as I wanted because they spent most of the day frozen solid, it was one of the most memorable day's cruising ever. Moored tonight at Bugbrooke again (I think, map confirmation required), I made good ground! It is a little alarming to find ice covering the INSIDE of the windows in the morning! I tried to photograph a huge red wolf up on the train embankment near Weedon, which could have been a monstrous fox, but was definitely, definitely, probably a wolf. I'll just be quiet for once and let my camera do the talking.

Needless to say the stove is eating through the logs again tonight!

Narnia Tunnel

2009-12-17T21:44:00.000Z

I've been over a week in the Braunston area now - some days I was pottering around with various small boat related projects, some days I worked on the Navigator, some days I taught myself to make fire using a bowdrill (an ongoing project! I got smoke though! Not bad going...). On Tuesday and Wednesday Nick fitted the stove at Braunston Marina - last night was the first firing! It's stunning, I love it!

I woke up this morning to find the first frost on the boat - which I promptly assaulted with a couple of logs! The good folks on NB the Teal told me just how much wood I could expect to get through, and they weren't joking! I've gone through a good half of all the wood in the locker and a bag of logs that I took off my mum's hands has gone, bar one monster log who requires the axe. Or the chainsaw. Or the guillotine...

This morning I visited the village again for some supplies and met my brother Simon who had agreed to come up to cruise with me for a day! We conquered Braunston lock flight and the tunnel - clear blue skies when we went into the tunnel, and snow covering the ground when we came out! I thought we'd taken that well known diversion inside the tunnel and ended up in Narnia. I've taken to renaming most of the places that I come across on the cut for fun, for example Bridge 71A on the Grand Union at Wolverton is Pigeon Bridge (self-explanatory if you ever go under it!).

Narnia Tunnel passed reasonably quickly, then we moored up and got the stove on. I'm having issues with getting the heat down to the other end of the boat, despite the ecofan working perfectly. It doesn't seem to be doing a great deal, but then I haven't run the stove without it on yet. The real heat seems to be very much isolated around the stove, which I can understand, but I've heard too many people tell me that ecofans are the single greatest thing ever invented to assume it's anything other than a case of needing to work out the best way of operating it all.People have told me how good the ecofan is for heating the lower levels of the boat but my feet are cold.

We have heat! Temperature outside is -2c apparently... Temperature inside is acceptable. Except on the floor! Now the race is on to get as near as possible to Milton Keynes in about 3 days... If everyone would like to kindly form ranks and fall on Buckby Lock Flight tomorrow armed with windlasses and real ale, we'll have a ball!

Climbing Buckby Lock Flight Again...

2009-12-08T23:04:00.001Z

Not long after I dumped the rubbish and left Weedon I noticed I was being followed...

By the good folks on NB The Teal! They closed the gap between us when I moored up briefly at Bridge 21 to visit The Little Farm Shop there. They said they'd wait for me at Buckby Bottom Lock. So, armed with homegrown spuds, garlic and eggs I boarded again and shot off towards the lock flight!

Wils is a strange creature, I noticed an unfamiliar knocking sound at low revs from the engine today, but this kind of thing seems to be normal for Wils, I checked everything I could think of. Still nothing doing on the speedo... But it still works fine on startup, hmph. Anyway, I arrived at the lock flight and proceeded to climb slowly with - I never got their names! But we had a very enjoyable seven locks together. I'm quite glad I didn't have to tackle that flight on my own actually, all deep (ish) locks, some leaks and some heavy gates. Let's not forget I probably will be doing this flight on my own in about a week's time, who knows...

At Norton Junction, which is practically Ground Zero for Wils, we bought him at Weltonfield Marina, which you can practically see from Norton Junction, up the Leicester Arm - I realised just how far we'd come since we left the Thames at Brentford!

I couldn't resist taking this as The Teal pulled into the lock with Wils!

I'm very close to Braunston now, almost a week early! What to do with six spare days?

Dawn Church Bells, a Visit to Daventry & Photos From a While Ago!

2009-12-07T14:33:00.004Z

The rain is thundering down here at Weedon now! Good timing too, I only just walked in through the door!

Yesterday was a very easy jaunt up from Bugbrooke. It's a truism on boats that as soon as you fix one thing, another breaks. Yesterday's breakage was the speedo! On startup it was jumping around as normal, then as soon as the engine fires into life (eventually), absolute zero on the speedo... Not a huge problem, I can navigate by engine noise and visual speed alone for a while. Perhaps just a loose connection?

Woken up at 6.30am by a full-on peal of bells from the church at Weedon - now that I think back I think the same thing happened to us the last time we were here! Is this a daily occurence? (They should put this kind of thing in the Nicholson Waterways Guides! Along with the sections where no mooring is permitted and updated water point locations!) It lasted a good ten thousand years, which was disconcerting. Minutes after the bells had died down, one of the first trains of the morning barrelled through the village right beside us too... I laughed! Sort of...

This morning I jumped on the bus into Daventry and came out with a few things, most importantly a CO Alarm, which I am going to fit this afternoon, in preparation for the arrival of the wood stove one week from today!

A few photos that should have made it into the blog a while ago, in chronological order!

Shillingford Bridge on the Thames (around the 9th October)

Passing Wallingford!

The best house in the world ever? Somewhere on the Thames...

Wils sporting his new, aerodynamic cratch design - the one he created for himself with his friend The Great Tree of Henley...

The "Adventure Moorings" at Henley!

I was hoping we wouldn't be thrown against this in the night...

This was as close as I could get to the bank! Someone needs to build some more moorings on the Thames! Anywhere! The middle of summer must be impossible...

Fast forward to Watford, Wils being lifted to have his water intake unclogged... (Me shivering with nerves not pictured.)

With the rain clouds in place it was nearly completely dark by 3.30pm today. Which is why I'm also pleased to say that new interior lights are on their way!

Onward to Bugbrooke, The Issue of Lighting & Playing the Human Angler-Fish in Blisworth Tunnel...

2009-12-05T18:30:00.004Z

The weather today mimicked yesterday perfectly! Sunny blue skies in the morning, overcast and very cold in the afternoon!

Expecting very little traffic again I was surprised to see two boats pass me just as I was making ready to leave Stoke Bruerne. The two locks in the centre of SB were set in my favour before they arrived but not once they'd gone through. It passed quickly enough. I paused before the entrance to Blisworth Tunnel; opening curtains, turning on all interior lights (few though they are) and making the final adjustments to the tunnel light!

Wilshamstead again sporting all mod cons. Yes, it's an LED camping lantern strapped to the rails with bungee cords and held in place by a log. Yes, that's our "real" tunnel light at the bottom right of the photo. No, it still isn't working!

I pushed off with vigour and crept towards the tunnel, anticipating my first solo tunnel experience, furiously winding the LED hand torch which fulfills the criteria for my "stern lighting". Fully charged and dimly blazing, I pushed on, concerned that I might not have enough light to see by...

At first sight I was sure another boat was coming towards me, but remembering that last time I thought the same thing and it had turned out then to be the light at the end of the tunnel! I still wasn't convinced either way because if it was the end of the tunnel, then the Sun itself would have to have been squatting in the canal at the Blisworth end, looking directly at me. I have a feeling that the boat coming the other way (for a boat it certainly was) must have thought the same thing because it was only when there were 10 metres between us that he switched off the MINIATURE SUN attached to his cratch and we narrowly avoided one another. I think we were playing the Angler Fish to the other, drawing in the other with the promise of the tunnel's end! Granted an LED lantern probably looks a great deal like the end of the tunnel... Oops.

We didn't make the slightest contact and even managed to exchange some pleasant words mid-tunnel! Then came daylight again, here's Wilshamstead's action shot of the day:

And as it turned out I had plenty of light to see by, it really is true that you can make perfectly good progress through a tunnel with the smallest number of lights! I had the camping lantern (30 LEDs), the hand torch (3 LEDs) and a total of four tiny 12v bulbs on inside which lit up both walls of the tunnel perfectly. I think at a push a single hand torch sellotaped to the roof would do! Honestly.

So I ended up mooring at Bugbrooke tonight, a peculiarly popular spot given its extreme proximity to the railway line. I passed about six spots where Jem and I moored Wils on our previous leg down the Grand Union, it's funny how a seemingly unfamiliar corner of canal suddenly strikes a chord when you get close enough and you recognise it instantly.

Tomorrow I'm aiming for Weedon. It's not a long haul from here, but it has nostalgic value, good pubs, lots of visitor moorings, a shop and a bus service to Northampton! All of which I shall require very soon. Nine days til stove fitting! I can't wait!

As an afterthought, this:
('cos it made me smile on the way past.)

Return to Stoke Bruerne, 5 Minutes at the Tiller of NB Verity & a Gift of Beer!

2009-12-04T15:28:00.009Z

Waking up to blue skies with a day of cruising ahead is an experience to be savoured at this time of year! This was the scene at Cosgrove this morning:

I am now sat on the 24 hour moorings at Stoke Bruerne, sipping the beer that was given to me this afternoon by the ladies on NB Verity, in thanks for my turning their boat for them at Yardley Wharf! We arrived at Yardley at the same time, and I stopped for gas and diesel. I was willing to help them turn their boat so that they could get a pumpout because that was exactly what happened to us the last time we were at that very boatyard! It's a reasonably tight turn in the entrance of Yardley Wharf, particularly at the tiller of a boat I was unfamiliar with! Verity was 58ft, and with me being used to handling the 54ft of Wils, I had a good frame of reference to work by! All went well, and then BEER! Kindly given, and very nice ale it is too...

On I went, passing the below, which made me wonder if I had made a mistake in my choice of transport, this is clearly the way to get around on the cut!:

Am I right?

On the approach to Stoke Bruerne lock flight, I encountered these stunners:

Not their best angle but they were so fine...

When I moored up (on rings! RINGS! GLORIOUS RINGS! I like mooring rings, ok?) I tightened the vee belt that has been squeeking horribly for the first 10 minutes of engine warm up for the last few days. Problem solved! The (heavy, heavy) stern steps came out without a complaint, the right tools were to hand and I now finally have a decent way of tensioning the awkward blighter! Steps back in no problem, engine sounds sweet again. Some days things just work!

I intend to dedicate a significant portion of this evening to Cities in Flight, by James Blish, it's a great novel so far. Grandiose Science Fiction, thus it's a huge direction change from my previous read; Suttree, which would probably rank somewhere in my top ten favourite reads of all time, if I had such a thing. (*trying to pretend I don't have such a thing...*)

The cold is the biggest demon here now, not surprisingly, but when the sun was shining it warmed up very comfortably. There was even sufficient shine for my tiny solar panel to catch some rays! I am looking forward to the evening of the 14th with baited breath.

Which I can see in front of my face.

'Cos it's cold.

But - I have beer!

I'm an Editor! Leighton Buzzard to Cosgrove! Stove Coming Soon! (and COUCHSURFING!)

2009-12-03T21:54:00.008Z

*peeks out of the coal hatch*

"I think the winds have gone..."

But the rain has taken centre stage again, so that's alright. As long as we're not short of a little adversity!

Progress up the Grand Union has been generally very good, despite the odd moment now and then... By comparison to the weeks I had between Brentford and Watford, it's been a dream! It was a good feeling to be on very familiar ground in Milton Keynes for a few days.

Tonight I'm moored very snugly at Cosgrove, with a big push of miles planned for tomorrow, regardless of the weather! I spoke to Nick who will be fitting the stove at Braunston Marina on the 14th December if all goes to plan, so while there are daylight hours I'm heaving Wils up thadda way, mile by mile - and when the light disappears I'm tiling! STILL tiling... It is nearly done, promise!

I visited Jem while I was moored at Milton Keynes, she's doing so well and coping with things like an absolute trooper so maybe I'll get the chance to snap a photo of her onboard again sometime soon!

I haven't had to get back into the canal again, for which I'm very glad! The intake seems to have righted itself and doesn't block at all. Perhaps I was just unlucky with leaf litter... Hmmm.

The previous post was written just south of Leighton Buzzard, here:

It was here that Alison dropped off my mum, and the two of us cruised up as far as the Three Locks, between Leighton Buzzard and Milton Keynes. It was great to have some company whilst cruising. To begin with the winds were so strong we couldn't think of even getting the boat away from the bank, but thanks to the shape of the canal there, and a slight drop in wind, we managed it. Within 15 minutes there was no wind, no rain and blue skies! Suddenly we had perfect cruising conditions...

We met Alison again at our destination, here is they both, smiling into the wind!

Needless to say the rain and wind returned as we were headed for the pub at Three Locks, but the early start the next morning was quite a different story:

In other news; I now have a canal-related job! It may be unpaid but the chance to take on a post like Editor of the The Buckingham Navigator for The Buckingham Canal Society seemed far too good to pass up! I'm often busy in the evenings now sorting articles and comparing fonts and performing many an esoteric Editorial rite... The first issue under my belt will be the Winter 2009 issue, due out in late January, available from - well, The Buckingham Canal Society! The society exists to bring back into service the Buckingham Arm of the Grand Union, and this seems a very fitting place to blog about such matters, given that the Buckingham Arm begins about 50 metres from where I am sitting now, despite it's official title not bearing that name; Old Stratford Cut (disused). If you have a minute, and choose to do as I did and study the area of the canal at Cosgrove on Google Earth or one of the many online mapping programs, you can easily trace the route that the Buckingham Arm will take from the amputated limb of the Old Stratford Cut as far as the A5 and beyond, surely a testament to the hard work of the volunteer groups that the BCS have organised thus far, laying hedges, planting trees, clearing weeds etc. More to follow on their efforts soon, no doubt!

*drop of water falls on my head from vent above*

I can't quite believe the difference in the volume of traffic between the summer and the winter on the canal. I was expecting some kind of change of course, but to see, on average, one boat moving every other day is some drop-off in numbers!

I am looking forward to hosting Couchsurfers on the boat as soon as the stove and the new floor in the saloon goes in! If anyone isn't aware of Couchsurfing; I consider it one of the single greatest achievements of the internet, bringing together people who are travelling with people who are willing to play host to them in their own homes for a night, a few nights or more - I have used the site as a traveller in France and Norway, and the sheer scale and benevolence of the whole project never fails to inspire and encourage me! I have yet to discover a better way to really get face to face with a place. What does a hotel really tell you? With CS, there are no touristy gimmicks and, of course, no cost, bar a little faith and goodwill. I consider it an antidote to the bland, moneyed, corporate sameness the world is suffering from at present. Here I am on Couchsurfing.org! Ok, rant over! I've had to turn people away because of the state of the saloon, but soon that'll change!

It must have been the heavy winds that tore more than leaves off the trees, today I narrowly avoided two logs in the canal - one was about the size of four dogs welded together, the other was clearly a complete and perfectly intact Sequoia trunk. Fact. (Nearly, anyway.)

My recent lack of photos on here has been down to a combination of technological failures recently, here's hoping they don't resurface. Tomorrow I intend to moor up at Yardley Gobion, my childhood village, once more! Here I come...

Conditions: Hostile!

2009-11-24T20:43:00.003Z

If the weather stays like this, I'm ditching the engine and fitting a sail.

You know the wind's strong when you can leave the boat for an hour in one place without any kind of mooring line and it doesn't budge an inch.

Precisely how many times am I going to have to get INTO the canal?

2009-11-19T16:37:00.004Z

It's hard to believe I haven't updated this blog since I got back onto the Grand Union! The journey out of London was easy but then everything ground to a halt at Watford, when the water in the exhaust was replaced with clouds of white smoke... Not so good. So after checking the impeller, the raw water filter and everything else I could think of (read: was recommended to check by the good folks on Justcanals.com), I booked Wils into P&S Marine at the marina near Watford and Croxley Green.

They had no space on their schedule for me for nearly a fortnight so I was stranded in Watford until then. Which turned out to be ok, despite the fact that I'm still trying to get to Braunston as quickly as possible in order to finally get the wood stove fitted. I watched the fireworks at Cassiobury Park on the 5th from onboard:

There was also an impressive display on the 7th, with live music, a huge bonfire and extraordinarily long queues of people waiting to buy chips.

It wasn't long before I was due at P&S Marine. Having been recently visited by a member of River Canal Rescue with regard to the same engine problem, and having to face the news that the issue could be head gasket et al, I was prepared for bad news... But P&S looked at it for a few minutes, decided to check whether the raw water intake was pulling in water properly - and TAA DAA! Problem solved. Once again RCR mechanics fail to diagnose correctly. As a request; could somebody PLEASE set up a rival company to RCR, one whose mechanics actually know what they're talking about? Granted they HAVE helped us out of some jams, but we've had at least 2 incorrect diagnoses, and one broken alternator from them, the latter problem meant us having to completely rethink the entire boat's electrics... Not impressed.

Anyway...

Wils had to be craned out of the water just to have the raw water intake de-gunked. Which worked but involved a crane lift (not strictly necessary I have since found! More on that later...) and the price tag attached to it. They didn't charge me full price for the lift, which was a GODSEND, but it was still an expensive day.

I was away from the boat for the best part of a week after that, and when I returned to Cassiobury Park and Wils yesterday I found the lock immediately below Wils was drained for cleaning and repairs! If I had moored 50 metres earlier I'd have been unable to move for days and probably weeks!

This morning I made a late start to cover some ground and all seemed fine until... No water. White smoke. Again. So I said a few words to the effect of "oh dear", pulled over and sulked heroically for a while. The only thing I could think of was to check the raw water intake again. It had been blocked before by months and years worth of weed and leaves, would it really have blocked up again in less than a few hours of cruising?

Wils was ramped up on an obliging gravel bank between locks at this point, so tying up seemed unnecessary, I donned swimming shorts and trainers and lowered myself between boat and bank. Flapping my arm around the swim of the boat I eventually located the intake - which was blocked by a few leaves and a little bit of plastic wrap. Could so little really have blocked it up?

I changed clothes again and fired her up. Running perfectly! I continued all afternoon up to my current position without a problem, but as I was filling up with water, about 20 metres from my intended mooring spot, there was the smoke again... So I moored up and jumped back into my swims!

Note: The Grand Union Canal at Hemel Hempstead, just above Lock 68 (Nash Mills) is deep. At least 5 feet deep. I never did find the bottom with my toes so I resolved to lying on the leaf-strewn November canalside in a t-shirt and shorts, wet through, half-in half-out of the water, struggling my left arm under the boat, and using my right arm to persuade Wils not to crush me against the bank. Located the intake again, a few more leaves removed but not even a handful, and the engine went back to normal immediately!

Now I'm warm inside with dry clothes on and a decent internet signal, but the question remains:

Just how many times am I going to have to get into the canal from now on?!

Photo coincidence?

2009-10-16T09:15:00.004+01:00

Thumbing through L.T.C. Rolt's The Inland Waterways of England this morning, I came across this photo, taken from almost exactly the same spot I took a photo of the lift bridge next to which I moored just outside Banbury! Not the same bridge, but is it the same location?

Free Apples for Boaters, Wild Parakeets, the Fuel Filter Fiasco & Adventure Moorings near the Hell Fire Club!

2009-10-15T16:35:00.006+01:00

The end of the Thames!!

What a mad few weeks! Wils and I are now back on the Grand Union, having completed not far off one hundred miles of the Thames in about a week. Covering as much ground as possible has been the priority recently, and I've averaged about 17 miles a day! Which is fine for the Thames, but of course I couldn't think of going that far in a day on the Grand Union, particularly as I'm single-handing through those lock flights...

Below: A welcome sight!

I can't now recall the name of the lock but there was a lock on the Thames, not far from Goring I think, that are giving away all the apples you can carry, the trees in the small orchard beside the lock keepers cottage are still laden, and the boxes outside the office were full when we came through, so I helped myself to a few choice eaters and we were on our way. Mooring at Goring was easy, the moorings near the bridge/lock are very well maintained, and free, which makes a change for the Thames. I was feeling brave so it was here that I attempted to change the fuel filter. Note to self; even if you follow what's written in books, things go wrong! And they did. But I have a far better idea of what to do next time, and with the help of a man who knows how to do these things, I was back on track, new filter and all. This man also knew more than I did about impending winter stoppages on the Thames and southern Grand Union, which is something that, with everything else that was on my mind, I hadn't even thought about yet. He warned that severe stoppages were due very soon and encouraged me to get a move on if I didn't want to be faced with the prospect of having to turn around and come all the way back the way I'd come. As this was clearly not an option, it was at Goring that I decided to get the Thames over and done with ASAP! And so it was that a few days, and an awful number of hours cruising later, Wils and I appeared at Teddington lock at the beginning of the Tidal Thames.

Now I'd done my reading and timed my arrival at Teddington to coincide with high tide, which it did. At 8.50am. I had got up at 5am to get there for that time and when I did - I was told that, as from October 1st, the Thames is on Winter Timetables now, so passage MUST be booked 24 hours in advance. The Collins map book makes no mention of these pesky Winter Timetables! I could've chanced it, but the moorings at Teddington (although costing £7 per night) were very solid and inviting... So it was an early morning in vain, but I got to have a day off to mooch around Teddington, where I found a copy of Cormac McCarthy's novel Suttree; about a man living on his own in a disintegrating houseboat on the Tennessee River - had to be done! It's reads extremely well so far, if a little heavy on the dense and slightly abstract poetics sometimes, like his other one, Blood Meridian. But you couldn't have it without the poetics, it's like reading Tom Waits lyrics sometimes, which can only be a very. very good thing! If a little exhausting after twenty pages...

Below: A night at Teddington.

It was after Goring that I ended up near Henley, where I wasn't prepared to pay £8 to moor up beside a park with no services provided. It was at this point that, with myself craned over the side of the stern trying to read the sign regarding moorings that Wils decided on a bit of a makeover for himself (a photo of the streamlined cratch that Wils styled for himself coming soon)!

In truth I was planning to remove it anyway but the work was done for me by an obliging tree at Henley. We had no forward movement at the time that I could judge, and the tree came out of the engagement without a scratch, so the cratch clearly wasn't going to be standing all that much longer anyway! Most of it was rotten wood.

I carried on through the town, it was getting a little dark by this point so I pulled over to read a sign advertising moorings for £6 a night. (Again, photos of the bizarre "Adventure Moorings" at Henley coming soon!)

It said it was payable on demand, and given that nobody demanded it from me I saw fit not to pay. I imagine in summer it is packed with boats along there and well worth the farmer's time to walk alongside and collect £6 per boat - but I was the only person moored there for miles... I imagine there are a good number of accidents at this spot too, getting on and off the boat, tying up and the reverse was more than a little daunting, even for a lithe, young athlete of a man such as myself. HA!

The summer crowds seem to be long gone on the river now, which is one wood stove away from being blissful! Although, saying that, the number of people still pushing cameras almost right up to the windows is as alarming as ever! I got talking to the owners of Thomas H, a stunning Dutch Barge that moored up in front of me at Teddington, who said they'd just come down from Kent, where a man had come halfway onto their gangplank to photograph the boat and was irritated that they should have the nerve to question what he was doing!

I didn't realise until I was within half a mile of Medmenham that the Abbey there was the site of the original Hell Fire Club; "The club formally styled itself the Monks of Medmenham, and originally occupied the caves beneath the ancient Abbey. Its members could reach the Abbey by boat from the river at night and thus not be bothered by `paparazzi'.

The abbey was well located in a grove of trees which nearly concealed it from view. The nearest road was some distance away, but members would be able to approach it easily in private boats... and ... could return to their homes in complete privacy. ... Workmen were sent in and the abbey was rebuilt and the grounds landscaped ... to make them into a `garden of lust.'

Marble pillars were erected on which were carved pornographic inscriptions in bastard, or `macaroni' Latin. Small Grecian-styled temples were put up here and there. The groves were filled with statuary in indecent poses. ... Hollowed from a hill was the Cave of Trophonius. A fresco within it pictured sexually robust animals, a crowing cock, and a laughing nun..."

Ahhh the good old days. From Henley it was a hotstep to Windsor, the centre of which was extremely depressing for such a historic town. Its bland, corporate frontage could have been anywhere, and that's precisely the problem. From there I hammered through Staines to Hampton and onto the tiny, tiny section of wall that passes for moorings there.

Sunrise over the High Rise; a night at Hampton:

It was from here that I made the extremely early start, and it's a strange experience untying moorings lines and heaving the pins out of the ground when it's still almost too dark to see and the moon is high... Also it was here that a large, fluffy white cat decided to befriend Wils and I. I had gone outside to check the pins in the soft mud on the bank late in the evening, and he appeared out of the tall grass behind me. When I asked him whether he thought the bow pin would hold, he sat beside it and curled a paw around it as if he was holding it in place for me! That was before he made a mad dash through the length of the boat! Cats can be hard to catch... And only yesterday on the Grand Union I passed an RSPCA Cat Shelter... Somebody is trying to tell me something...

I wasn't expecting all the parakeets either! Along the final 20 miles or so of the Thames there are whole flocks of the things, all brightly coloured and noisy and - well, parakeety. Apparently this is what happens when you let a couple of them into the wild! I was impressed!

I think this goes some considerable way to explaining the loss of speed I was experiencing yesterday! Pulled out of the weedhatch at the time:

Wils at sunny Brentford:

Below, a very poor photo of one of the few boats I've seen that I would call my Dream Boat!! I spoke to the owners, a couple who had lived for 5 years on a narrowboat previously, and had only taken charge of this beauty two days before I met them. Imagine the amount of space in something like that compared to a narrowboat! Although this photo doesn't come close to doing it justice, it was a stunning boat. Look at all that room for a veg garden on top!

It's a very difficult thing to take a good self-portrait when you're cruising at top speed; but as you can see I succeeded admirably:

More photos to arrive soon, once I figure out all the relevant technogubbins...

Photographically Speaking...

2009-09-27T14:06:00.002+01:00

And now the photos that relate to the previous post!

The lizard in the engine bay:

Duke's Lock:

A valid question, near Duke's Lock:

Poor, wrecked boat:

Headed for DANGER!

Wils contemplates the Thames:

There are some amazing boats around here:

And some truly terrible ones:

Moored in Oxford:

The Isis Sculls take over the Thames:

Approaching Lock Wood, near Abingdon:

Lizards in the Engine Bay, Infuriating Wonka-Locks & onto the Thames!

2009-09-26T16:51:00.004+01:00

Sadly this post will be sans photos, not for lack of photos taken in the last few days, but for the severe antiquity of current onboard computing technology. I would love to kick it up a gear and maybe get a few photos online, but I fear the boiler would explode.

Wils and I have made it onto the Thames! Leaving Thrupp, we spent one night at Kidlington, where tiles, adhesive, grout and a number of associated and equally fascinating tools were ordered, and collected the next morning. Toby now knows that tiles are heavy. Adhesive is heavy. Grouting is also rather weighty. Carrying the above in a backpack on a BMX bike is therefore HELLISH, and not an experience I'm likely to repeat soon! But at least it's all onboard now. Now if only I could tile... I started, then I stopped. It's a work in progress. Every morning I wake up in a cold boat and a sudden pang of energy to get on with it and get the stove in suddenly kicks in, but then the days heat up (I have sunburn - it's nearly October!) and the importance of the job dwindles slightly.

Lately the job of cruising on the Thames has taken priority, and what a contrast it is from the Oxford canal! They definitely haven't heard of a narrow lock on these waters! This afternoon Wils and I passed through Sandford Lock where I learnt the lock takes in 1.2 million litres of water every time it fills! I was impressed.

Also discovered a lizard in the engine bay whilst removing old paint/rust and applying new anti-rust paint in there, who seemed glad to have a new home beside the canal, hope he managed to avoid the many, many herons around these parts...

The Oxford Canal ended unceromoniously at Dukes Lock, where I skidaddled onto Dukes Cut, thus avoiding the madness of attempting to moor in central Oxford. Dukes Lock is a fitting closure to the Oxford Canal, fitting in all its fine tininess. It's like a pixie shipping canal! A very cute little affair (yes, I did just describe a lock as cute), nestled under the railway bridge and between veritable walls of plantlife, this boater advises mooring before the entrance to the lock, although going right in does cover your centre line in those prickly thistle-like baubles, which look good but won't aid you when you come to need to actually USE the centre line - anyway...

After the small scale of Dukes Lock it was on to the widening (and widening, and widening and...) Thames, and to Kings Lock - where the brilliantly mustachio'd lock keeper sold me the right to cruise on the Thames and a winning smile. Afterwards he mentioned that every British subject (remember, we're not techincally citizens these days, we're still subjects), has the right to cruise on the Thames unheeded, since the Magna Carta was drawn up, and that the Environment Agency can't stop a boater proceeding into a dangerous part of the river, they can only advise. What then, I later mused, is the deal with the EA selling licenses? If we have the right to cruise on the Thames, how can a government body permit and penalise boaters? Hmmmmm....

Past Kings Lock and on towards Godstow Lock, which is where I, temporarily, came unstuck... Getting Wils into the lock was no problem - closing the gates behind Wils was no problem - but on all of the many written instructions and push buttons available, nowhere did it say; "now that your boat's inside the lock, look over to your right and observe the terminal from which the opposite lock gates are controlled". Muggins 'ere was pushing and pulling and pressing and jabbing at control box A for nearly twenty minutes, before he realised you have to walk over to Control Box B to open the second gate. Yes, it's ridiculously simple, and if I'd seen anyone else doing it before me, I'd have had no problem - but in my defence, the entire lock is drawn up on Control Box A, with buttons beside the second gate - ok, nuff said, I'm a fool. At least now I know, right?

Past the bathing cows of Port Meadow, I come under the (enjoyably low!) Osney Bridge and there's a mooring waiting for me right in the middle of Oxford! So a shower and a night-time ramble into a town I know well was on the cards, and any pub serving Hobgoblin on tap is a good one in my book.

Early this morning we were off again, down to Osney Lock, where I'm told the Sculls are on today just a little way down the river. They certainly were, I came passed the superb island buildings beside Folly Bridge and was directed by a Race Marshal over to the moorings, where I and a number of other boaters were waiting for the race to finish so we could move on. Turns out I had a good seat right on the finish line. 50 rowers later we were allowed to continue down-river. Huge houses, huger forests (Lock Wood, apparently) and some extremely impressive underbridge art went by, photos to follow shortly of course! And here I am just below Abingdon Lock. I make that a little over 25 miles in the last 4/5 days, not bad going!

The Thames is a seriously refreshing contrast to the Oxford, it's so very, very wide; though mooring and water opportunities seem rare and even boatyards seem hard to come by... I was able to fill up with water above Abingdon Lock, so just diesel to get now... On to Wallingford! Now bring me that horizon... The next pipe bridge'll do.

A Travelling Man's Diamonds; Calcutt to Thrupp & The Ubiquitous Floating Lettuce

2009-09-17T17:34:00.004+01:00

Well I'm certainly overdue for a post here!

Suffice it to say that Wils and I have continued on down the Oxford having left our temporary mooring at Calcutt some time ago... So there I am, on my first day cruising single-handedly, and only just around the corner from Calcutt Marina, when DISASTER STRIKES! Well, not really disaster, let's just say I am now well aware of the importance of withdrawing all fenders from the water when entering narrow locks... Amongst the many, many various things on my mind that day, and having never tackled a narrow lock before, it simply slipped my mind. Good thing I hadn't bought that nice, new set of manilla fenders yet! So, two rope fenders lighter than before, on I went, only thanks to the superb help I received from three boaters coming the other way. In all honesty, the generosity and open willingness to help one another that I've found on the canals is incredible and only serves to highlight the lack of it in "normal" bricks-and-mortar life; it's something I hardly realised was so pronounced until I started living on the canal. It really is the case that you can be walking along a main road over a canal and everybody will ignore you in the usual city way, then you move a few metres down onto the towpath beneath the same bridge and everyone acknowledges you! Sometimes, people even smile. Gasp! Of course that's not always the case, but recent experiments have provided convincing results...

Hoping to moor up before the connurbation of Banbury was upon us, we were "mildly displeased" at finding nothing but 48 hour moorings in the centre of town, such is the nature of urban boating I'm sure. Wils and I needed to find something more in the region of 7/14 days, because a visit by train down to the south coast to visit Jem was fast approaching. Moving from the fields of the Oxfordshire countryside into the centre of Banbury is quite a contrasting experience! And there I was confronted by my very first lift bridge, which did indeed require lifting - with only a minor two hundred or so onlookers, shoppers, coffee drinkers etc surrounding me on all sides and on many tiers of shopping centre... Now - here's where I first discovered an issue for single-handers with regard to the operation of lift bridges, which remains unresolved as such; how is one supposed to operate said contraption when the lift arms are on one side of the canal and the moorings on the other? I was saved in central Banbury by being able to moor Wils very cheekily behind the hire boat that lives outside Tooleys Historic Boatyard (that looks disappointingly unhistoric until you get round the back...) which was moored on the same side as the lift arms. Long story short, I got through fine, and found a good spot to moor up just past Bridge 170:

Which happened to be a mere mile's walk from the timber yard, so over the next two weeks I visited Jem (who is coping very well with everything cos she's so brave), bought in lengths of timber and sheets of cement board, which I lugged by hand down the towpath in an extremely manly and energetic way, naturally.

There are a number of interesting walks over the fields around the outskirts of Banbury, this was etched on a footbridge sign:

The "dismantled railway line" was disappointing, I expected to find four children and a dog getting into scrapes and being chased by a ghostly, one-armed signalboxman called Eyepatch Joe, and given that such were my expectations, I was a little put out by the lack of such a scene. But I did meet some very friendly pigs on part of the farm that lies on the footpath route if you leave the canal at lift bridge 172 and head east-ish. The woods just beside the canal there are full of HUGE spiders and make for an excellent weaving patch of ground, the trunks being thin enough to take a loom tie-cord very comfortably (the spiders, as nature's weavers, were clearly a good indication of something appropriate in the air...) Below: a new project begins, a belt this time...

Two more photos from my time near Banbury:

The timber and cement board is, by now, installed as the surround for the wood burning stove to be - well - surrounded by. Only tiling and stove installation to go! But the mornings are getting colder, I can't deny it... Must work faster! Here it is before all of the cement board went on:

I'm having to skim everything that has happened because I have so much time to fit into one post, so here goes:

Recently brewed up another batch of real ale! This is now bottled and "aging" nicely! Prudence Pig Porter is its name, and very tasty it is too!

One of the most attractive lock keepers cottages I've seen, at Somerton Deep Lock, also recently traversed by NB Ubique I believe! Our paths have crossed a great deal recently, it seems!

A photo from my one night moored near Somerton, where the towpath was simply one edge of this huge field populated by cows. And boaters.

Which brings us almost up to the present! Currently moored at Thrupp, within shouting distance of Ubique & Maffi, the latter of the two was waiting beside my mooring when I pulled into Thrupp, always nice to find a familiar face after a long solo cruise, even if you've never seen it before in person! And it really was a long day, about 10 miles on Tuesday, about 9 miles the day before - I don't think 19 miles is too bad for two days work!

A recent venture out into the world surrounding Thrupp lead me to Hampton Gay, an abandoned village, the ruins of the Sixteenth Century Manor House still stand (partially), and there are a number of farm buildings and strange, lock/sluice-like features dotted around the undergrowth if you look hard enough... A fascinating place really, an internet search afterwards reveals that it was cursed. And then burnt down. And there's me skipping gleefully through the remains!

In that last photo; the ground floor window is HUGE from inside! Gives a superb view out onto the grounds... What a renovation project it would make... Hmmmmm....

And finally, just to prove that all sorts of things grow in the hedgerows adjacent to the canals, I found wild hops growing directly beside Bridge 220! Excuse the poor photo!

As for the ubiquitous floating lettuce - at the last three locations I've moored; there has been a perfectly intact lettuce floating in the canal nearby! Is someone laying a trail for me? Is it, in fact, the same lettuce each time, hitching a ride somewhere on Wils? Is it following me?

Meanwhile, back in the 21st Century...

2009-07-28T13:53:00.007+01:00

Boat related goings-on are fast and furious at the moment! We've been around the Napton Junction area for some time now, moving the boat well in advance of our 14 day allowance of course, but having to stay roughly in the same area because of all the work we're having done.

In the last fortnight we first had a visit from Nick Sherratt, a 'Field Service Engineer' who works out of Welton; a most excellent bloke and a real all-rounder by the sounds of it, in his own words; "there's nothing I don't do on boats!". In a matter of an hour or so he had converted our mind-boggling 12/24v split system into an all 12v system (mildly less mind-boggling). I know what some of you are thinking, that there are benefits to the 24v system - but our electrical needs are so simple that overall we decided that the superior availability of 12v parts was enough to tempt us to having just the one system. The only thing that remains is to sort out a way of running 240v appliances now - either by purchasing a 600 watt inverter or by sourcing an alternative way of taking 12v and stepping it up to 240v. Luckily we have no washing machine, tumble dryer, TV etc to worry about.

Martin Kedian, famed for his work on Bones side hatch earlier in the year, amongst other things - had finished constructing our amazing brand new amazing stainless steel water tank of amazingness! In preparation for the new tank we had to destroy the interior front end of the boat - good thing our stove hasn't gone in yet, eh?! We had to remove the corner cupboard (due to come out anyway, for the stove), the central heating pipe that ran parallel to the front bulkhead (which involved draining the entire system of course) - which we hoped was going to be all of it, but Martin's visit the day before the fitting revealed that due to the size of the tank we needed to remove laminate flooring, the plywood underneath and all of the concrete ballast in the front end! AGH! So for one day (gloriously sunny, unlike the rain-soaked ones before and after it!) we had our new tank and our precious blocks of concrete out on the towpath:

The job seemed like an incredibly quick one to this layman, who watched as Martin and Trevor cut into the bulkhead to provide a hole through which the new tank would fit:

This is a man half-proud of the progress being made, half-terrified of the huge hole that has just appeared in the front of his boat...

After that it was my turn to spring into action, slapping down three tins (!) of anti-rust paint on the surrounding old tank walls, with the new tank temporarily removed of course. It dried in the sun very quickly, so we set to lining the old tank with a couple of rolls of insulation (to keep the water in the new tank from freezing in mid-winter), before fitting the new tanks back in, connecting them together and screwing in the filler pipe.

After a few very well-earned cups of tea and a good night's sleep we set to moving the boat from Napton Junction down to a marina nearby where we filled up with water for the first time! Due to the changeover of electrical systems we also had to change the main water pump, the shower water pump and the bilge pump - which are all working successfully!

This morning I finally finished negotiating about the Honda Generator that turned up a fortnight ago and spat petrol everywhere - it was returned, serviced and should be due to arrive tomorrow. HURRAY! Here's hoping it works this time... The gennie will provide us with emergency 240v power, and our new battery charger will mean we hopefully won't have any problems with dead/dying batteries - but then again, this is a boat, and if there's one thing I've learnt - boats break! All good fun though, in a quintessentially English sort of way...

I am extremely pleased to say that Jem is recovering well, and the current plan is to move on down the Oxford quick smart, negotiate the non-tidal Thames and then the K&A at least as far as Devizes. We'll see....

And now, to cleanse the palate, a few photos from recent weeks/months:

The working boatman's Familiar graces Wils with a surprise visit at Cosgrove:

The centenarian President passed us on its way to Crick I guess:

"HERE I AM!" Jem scares the **** out of me, next to the handspun wool drying in a very convenient place:

That same wool going to good use in the construction of a rug on the peg loom, beside Jem's creature creations (SHAMELESS PITCH TIME: Rugs and creatures are currently for sale! Either click here to visit our Etsy page; or send us a message on blogger, or comment on this post etc):

A pint of the first batch of brew: Brown Bear Ale! A huge success it was too! Sitting next to our trusty wool cards. If you see us out and about on the cut, give us a shout and we'll give you a bottle or two if we've got some brew made up! (Is that a dangerous promise to make in a blog?)

Always good to see heavy horses on the canal!

In other news; I finished building a backstrap loom, and I'm slowly learning how to use it, and hopefully in time more elaborate blankets/rugs will be possible.

Brain melting from blogging, and it's sunny outside so....

Down to Candles and Solar Power now...

2009-06-12T16:13:00.005+01:00

Reading the previous post reveals just how long it's been since we updated this last!

To bring things up to speed; we are currently suffering from both a lack of electricity and running water onboard. The domestic alternator (which we soon learned was 24v, a fact that had admittedly been lost on us amongst the myriad of technical details we received when we bought the boat) was recently broken, and not by us - long story. Our visiting mechanic unwittingly replaced it with a 12v model, and since then we've been almost completely on candles and my tiny portable solar charger, not to mention internet-less. The thought that has been going through my mind is that, if 24v is such a superior system for a boating environment (apparently due to its lack of voltage drop compared with 12v), then why has 12v become the ubiquitous standard? We are faced with two options therefore; change a (growing) number of the appliances onboard from 24v to 12v, including all of the light bulbs, the two water pumps, the inverter and possibly even the starter motor - or find a 24v alternator.

The latter would seem the easiest to do, but for the fact that 24v alternators seem to be very hard to come by.

On the subject of the running water, we are investigating the possibility of having a flexible tank installed inside the current tank, after we de-rust and repaint it with regular anti-rust. If that turns out to be prohibitively expensive, there's the option of having a stainless steel tank welded inside the existing one, or simply repainting with the right kind of potable anti-rust paint...

More significantly than all of this however, is the fact that, on our return from a fantastic Sunrise Celebration festival down in Somerset nearly two weeks ago, Jem became very unwell very quickly, and is currently recuperating with her parents on the south coast. She is getting better every day and hopefully the boat can be improved to a far more comfortable standard for her return. At present I am doing what I can to move between Jem and the boat to move it, to keep the veg alive, to sponge the bilge (no electrics means no bilge pump! So the bilge pump is 24v too... Add it to the list of things to replace if we go down that route, which is looking less and less favourable), etc. We're moored a fair distance from the south coast of course, and without a car this is proving "interesting"... Time for me to get back onto Liftshare, not to mention stretching the muscles in my hitchin' thumb...

On the plus side the second batch of ale has turned out well, though it seems that bottling is definitely a two-person operation if you don't want to get sticky, sticky beer all over the galley.

We have started to look for a mooring, and we hope that having that extra bit of stability will be good for both of us for the time being, though how long it takes us to find something suitable remains to be seen.

Brewing and all the rest!

2009-04-19T17:41:00.008+01:00

We seem to be stretching out in both directions at the moment, on the one hand we've got our mobile internet sorted onboard, very 21st Century of us - on the other hand we've got no running water! Which drags our waterways profile back a hundred years or so! Which isn't proving to be a problem, slightly inconvenient perhaps but no problem. We're passing water taps on a regular basis, so with our four water carriers (25L, 15L x2, 10L) in hand we can easily gather enough water to see us through.

Our trouble with the alternator belts has continued, but we've got it figured out now, this isn't an engine you can leave for weeks on end and forget about! Which is great for learning. The latest diagnosis is that at least one of the bolts maintaining tension on the starter alternator is not doing its job properly. I tighten it up, it runs fine, we stop for an hour (or less) and the belt starts screeching on start-up again... Luckily we've got the art of removing the steel steps in the stern down to a fine art with both of us hauling on particular corners at certain angles! Luckily, being an ex-hire boat, Wils has plenty of room in the stern, making engine access very (okay, reasonably) easy.

Having checked the transmission oil for the first time a few days ago and found it to be rather low, we bought a generic transmission oil, and now I don't know whether or not it can be mixed with the stuff that's already in there... Waiting for the opinions of the wonderful lot over at Just Canals on that front!

Interior painting continues, most of the red and white in the saloon is done, and the panels in the Grand Hallway are primed and ready for colour...

We've made some excellent progress on removing the rust in the stern. We got the lid off the water tank in the bow and discovered the most disgusting sight... So we sponged out the remaining water and it's had a very good chance to dry out since then with all the sun we've got right now... It's clear why the tap water was coming out brown! Good thing we've never used it. So we're trying to work out what the best thing to do would be - do we apply a bitumin based paint and use the tank as it stands OR do we investigate having a stainless steel tank custom built and fitted? Sounds expensive to me... We'll see.

Our first pumpout at Yardley Wharf (where I grew up! Well, not the wharf itself but the village above it) proved that the access hole in the starboard side does not connect to the pumpout tank... That would be the hole on the other side, the one MARKED PUMPOUT. :D So some nifty manouverings had us spun around the right way to get poo pumped. Also filled up with diesel and declared 60/40 split.

Yet ANOTHER trip to Halfords and B&Q had us buying an enormous tarp, which has helped to keep the rainwater off the stern, where the boards are in poor condition. Yup, that's another job for the list...

We've got plans for tearing out the wardrobe setup in the bedroom, not to mention the 7ft or so of table and the sink (in the bedroom?!) to make room for an effective use of space!!

---------

1st May 2009:

Didn't get around to posting the last entry, so here's two together, latest news is:

Currently in Cosgrove, we had our first diesel fill-up from the working boat this morning, and spoke to the folks running fenders/ropework/rag rugs/BW Warden(ing), who are moored a short walk up from us. Seems like it's possible to buy all the diesel/gas/coal you could want from the small companies still working on the canal, which is great since it keeps trade on the canal and keeps the workboats from becoming transformed into fully fitted floating apartments for weekend use... Nah, I don't really have a problem with weekenders, but I might in a couple of days, this being a bank holiday weekend, we're prepared for rough seas! :D I just love the old workboats truth be told...

The only issue was that because the 13KG gas bottles are far more common than the 6KG bottles, we haven't been able to get hold of refills for the gas yet, and it's becoming more and more apparent WHY nobody has 6KG bottles out here... They tend to retail at about £15 for 6KG, about £20 for 13KG and an even better rate for the HUGE bottles. Note to self, perform proper research before a marina does ANYTHING!! The boatman's cat calmed us down by making our roof his home for half an hour or so...

The gas locker is not big enough to hold 13KG bottles, so unless we want to spend some time with an angle grinder and a cutting disc, we're stuck with 6KG bottles. Which isn't a disaster because we're only using the gas for cooking on from now on. We haven't had the heating on for more than an hour or so since that first week when we ate through a bottle in about 5 days... Summer is cheap!

Exciting progress yesterday as we began our first attempt at homebrewing onboard! The demijohns may be relatively small but they're both bubbling away furiously! We should be able to sample the finished product, in the region of 12 pints if all goes well, in about 2-3 weeks time and we've got the fun of bottling before then.

It's a stunningly beautiful May Day here in sunny Cosgrove! We're going to plant our veg and salad seeds this afternoon and hopefully get into the woods at some point to forage something delicious... I would post a few photos but our connection is not great, so that'll have to wait! We may not have seen much of the canal system yet but this is one of the spaces I could probably be persuaded to moor up at for a few months... Only not yet!

Toby.

We're On!

2009-04-12T13:39:00.001+01:00

What a fortnight!!

What follows will not be a coherent chronological sequence of events, but rather an avalanche of recollection:

In our first two weeks onboard we've had a vertical learning curve to get to grips with, we knew the engine was a slow starter but we figured that having just had a service she would hold out for a little while, giving us time to get up to speed on the general maintenance of our beloved chunk of BMC. How foolish we were! The very day after leaving Weltonfield she was having none of it and simply would not start so we promptly joined River Canal Rescue and were visited that afternoon by Jim who pointed out the madness of trying to turn over a slow-starting engine using a 110a/h leisure battery alone. Now we know how to jump the starter battery from the leisures, using a windlass if need be, though I think it was the helpful boater moored up next to us a week ago that taught us the windlass trick... Jim got us going again, advising that we buy an 800a/h starter battery, which we have since done and installed.

That was not the last we saw of RCR, we had got as far as Stoke Bruerne, successfully negotiating Blisworth tunnel, aware as we went through of the screeching sound that was beginning to creep into the engine tone... Opening up the engine bay later revealed the black rubbery dust of shorn alternator belts, not good. Attempts to replace/tension the belts were stressful, believing that we needed more tension than we could achieve by hand/hammer handle/mooring pin. RCR arrived and revealed that the day's cruising we'd had under the belts we'd tensioned ourselves had been not too loose but too tight. Now we know the correct tension and running the engine this evening revealed minimal screeching, so a little tinkering with tensions is required tomorrow. RCR also advised that the reason she's a slow starter might be down to old glow plugs that need replacing, or even that we might be losing compression due to pitted valve seats, which is not a particularly easy or quick job to fix, and is certainly out of our capability for now.

When Jem went to wash her hair the other day it was discovered that the shower pump was barely functioning. Having moored up beside a great pair of characters, Phil and Sue, who are cruising in convoy on Black Rose and The River Gypsy, we had bucketloads of advice which we promptly scribbled down! They recommended we check the filter in the line that leads from the base of the shower tray to an exit point in the side of the hull. An hour's awkward fumbling around under the shower led to the removal of a small mountain of gunk and hair! Ain't boatin' bootiful?! So this evening marked my first hot shower onboard! Which felt seriously GOOD!

The issue with the water tank goes on, we're waiting for a spell of dry weather which should allow us sufficient time to get the hatch off, sponge out remaining water, remove as much of the rust as we can, paint liberally with bitumastic paint, wait to dry and refill with water! Then hopefully we will have water that doesn't come out of the taps a horrid red/brown colour. Good thing we bought those plastic water tanks for the time being...

Painting has begun on the interior too, cream and volcano red! It might be a small space but it's fiddly, Jem is mastering the cutting in so we'll have it done in no time! I can't wait to remove the corner cupboard in the saloon and start building the surround for the stove.

We're becoming grandmasters at Escape from Colditz the board game, and our first foray into hand washing onboard was a success, we tested out our newly acquired copper posser and the 'washball' device that was onboard before we were. Both were successful, though the posser's Victorian charm won me over as the more satisfying method. Drying clothes has been the real challenge however, and our search for a mangle begins now!

We have no way to monitor how much fuel we have left, so I think the next couple of days will see us getting our first pumpout and diesel fill. Our first filling up with water was a success, if a slightly soggy success! And now we know that taps covered in BW security boxes require a hose pipe, so mooring up miles and miles from the water point then arriving plastic containers in hand (sans hose pipe) will lead to much cursing and a trudge back to the boat for the pipe! Boaters be ye warned...

We keep telling ourselves that had we bought a boat in better condition, we'd not be learning half as much about how they tick, and, taking the water tank as an example, once we have clean running water and a new drinking water filter, it'll seem like absolute luxury! And as for the shower, they seem to have installed a cunning device specifically for reducing the inevitable discomfort of stepping from a conventional shower into a colder bathroom - it actually reduces the temperature of the water in the shower so that when you step out there's no discomfort at all! SPACE-AGE OR WHAT?! :)

This Easter weekend we're hoping to get our mobile broadband sorted, and tick off a few more items on the ongoing shopping list...

Moving onboard today!

2009-03-31T12:43:00.005+01:00

The lovely Liz at Weltonfield assured us yesterday that all the paperwork is completed, we have a BSC, we have insurance, now we just need to send off for our license! In short, we move onboard this afternoon! It all begins today!

Hopefully we'll be able to post from the cut via my phone, and we're in the process of sorting out wireless internet and other such technowizardry... Norway was a great and intense week, feels like we're just moving from one adventure to another at the moment! Which can't be a bad thing. We were in Oslo before and after our visit to Alta, high up inside the Arctic Circle, real wildcat country! And moose/reindeer/bear country too... Amazing place.

I've been poring over the waterways maps this morning, trying to get a feel for what we might encounter on this afternoon's first cruise! We don't yet know how far a tank of diesel will take us, nor precisely how often the pumpout will need emptying, nor how often we will need to fill up with water! I'm sure we will learn these things all in good time over the coming weeks...

Right, I've got things to pack! Next post will be from onboard our new home!

Toby.

And what's more...

2009-03-21T17:34:00.005Z

In addendum to the previous post:

Never underestimate the sheer joy of discovering hot water pouring out of ya taps! Onboard what has been thus far a very chilly, damp boat for us, the excitement caused by discovering hot water in the system was quite immense!

Also, never underestimate the effectiveness of the switch marked 'WATER PUMP' for producing a result very similar in appearence to the phenomenon known as "fully working taps/showers/water points"!! Turns out that in order to have running water ya have to press THAT ONE! I felt like rather the fool yesterday onboard. Well, ya have to learn these things at some point! And it wouldn't have helped us a great deal on those two days we spent onboard, since we're treating the condition of the water tank as suspect for the time being, so no drinking water onboard yet either way. And now I know.

Also had a brief chat with the Morris's on NB Legacy as they manouvered their way out of Weltonfield, lovely folk!

TTNNNNEPFWFTGITL!!

2009-03-21T13:55:00.001Z

A visit to Weltonfield today confirmed that both the boiler work and the engine service have now been completed! Nick showed us how best to use the central heating, top up and bleed the system, how they tinkered with our engine in the service and what exactly to look out for from our beloved chunk of BMC iron in the stern, what a top bloke!

Still just a gnat's wing away from actually being able to cruise, once Trevor has been down to inspect the work he will (hopefully) be able to issue us with the BSC, which we can get off to BW asap, along with our license application. That's one thing that those folk new (newer than us anyway) to boating or first time buyers might do well to bear in mind when looking at potential boats; see how much time is left on the current license and enquire as to whether or not the current owners would be willing to sign over the remaining time to you, could save some hassle. Not that applying for a license is a huge difficulty however... Just a thought.

I was thinking about setting up a list of; Things That the Näive Newbie Narrowboaters Never Expected to Pay For When First They Got Into This Lark (TTNNNNEPFWFTGITL, catchy huh?), one entry for which cropped up today in the form of the charge for the "rental" of the new gas bottle! Not the use of the gas inside it, you understand, just the canister - I'm not saying it's an unjust charge, it simply never crossed my mind. So down went our £30 to account for our third 6KG bottle.

We are also now in possession of our trusty BW key, and we located the hexagonal pumpout key, which had been temporarily lost in the excitement of unpacking bags, stocking galley shelves etc.

I'm on the lookout for a replacement rubber impeller for the raw water pump, so that we have a spare with us at all times. Spare filters wouldn't go amiss either.

In short, I think we're finally getting there, the boat is ready - at precisely the same time as we're off to Norway! Truly that is Sod's Law at work... But at least we'll be able to get straight onboard as soon as we get back! We'll be on the Northernmost tip of the European continent for one week, which means leaving Wils on a temporary mooring for a week, at further cost of course. We now know to leave triple the amount of time we think we need for anything boat related!

Our first nights onboard! Scrubbing Algae! Paint colours! Insurance! Still not cruising yet though...

2009-03-11T09:48:00.016Z

HURRAY! The floating problem-child is finally ours for keeps! We completed the final purchase at the end of last week (with significant - albeit temporary - help from Jem's folks - Thanks Stuart & Jenny! You're lifesavers!) In short we're still waiting for the boiler work and the engine service to be done, Weltonfield are incredibly busy at the moment, and are facing the retirement of two of their engineers this week, right in the middle of their busiest month of the year! They seem rushed off their feet! So we just have to be patient...

We spent our first nights aboard Wils at the weekend, which was great, even considering that we were without running water, heating and toilet facilities! We had the lanterns burning brightly and some very strange jazz on the tape player (yes, we DID have a little power in the batteries!) courtesy of Mr Herbie Hancock, as we whiled away the evening in furry hats and scarfs and many layers of clothing, plotting heroically the deciding moves in Escape from Colditz the board game! It's a great game in fact, and looks set to become a regular feature onboard, so those who come and stay can look forward to a good ol' fashioned round of Colditz, and no mistake! All the efficient fun of the Third Reich!

A few photos:

Our advanced water system!

We have been carefully analysing our options for licensing, and for a long time we were tempted by the trading license, in the catagory 'shop or workshop' or something like that, because it would enable us to sell what we make directly off the boat. But of course, in true headlock-capitalist spirit, if there's any chance of one individual making money, then a whole slew of other people are legally entitled to make some too, as a result. The trading license in question, which bizarrely is relative to the size of the vessel, was more than twice as much money as the standard license. And them licenses ain't cheap to start with! All for selling the occasional handmade rug onto the towpath...

In all fairness, there is a 55% discount for traders that make less than £65,000 a year, which we would qualify for by a gazillion miles, but the very idea of keeping the books, and having to deal with that kind of business mentality is, frankly, repulsive. So we shan't be selling directly off the boat for the time being, because we can't afford to. We can't afford to make money, apparently. We'll put up a link on here to our Etsy shop as soon as it's open!

We have made many, many journeys by car to the marina in the last week, now most of our stuff is onboard. Just a little logistical juggling to do in order to bring the remainder of Jem's things up this way from down south.

We managed to find an insurance company that were willing to insure us without a BSC, given that we don't actually cruise her until the work is done to bring her up to BSC standard. Waiting, waiting, waiting...

I'm trying every day to learn something new about our engine, our electrics, our plumbing, and I have two books on the way on those very topics, so that there might be at least a small chance that we can maintain Wils in top condition, and fix the bits that (will) go wrong (eventually)!

In an attempt to rid ourselves eventually of water pumps and electrical plumbing systems, we're hunting around for second hand beer pumps, the kind that get discarded from pubs quite regularly apparently. One day I want to have beer pumps instead of water taps in the galley, and perhaps one pump next to them feeding from the cask-conditioned homebrew! That might be a long-term plan! The pumps that is, not the homebrew, that's priority number one!

We're also looking at paint colours for the inside, we're siding on a dark red and cream for the saloon and possibly something different for the bedroom!

Scrubbing the algae off the roof goes on a little bit at a time, as does investigating the electrics to try and get the tunnel light and the horn working again! We're going to have emergency backup horn and light in the form of a handheld air-horn and a powerful torch too! Advanced stuff!

As we're hoping that our first trip will be southwards down the Grand Union, we're hoping that the stoppages at Buckby Lock will be cleared up soon. Officially they are due to end tomorrow, I don't know how often BW manage to stay on schedule.

It seems like every day we get a bit nearer to our new life on the water, here's hoping it won't be too much longer!

Still on dry land...

2009-03-04T14:24:00.003Z

We're still land-bound for the time being! For now, we've decided to have the gas boiler repaired instead of removed entirely (for now), which gives us some time to construct the surround for the stove and have it fitted, during which time we'll be able to live onboard and have some kind of heating! Always a plus, one might say...

It turns out that if we want to have the back-boiler on the stove feeding the fin radiators, we'll need another pump onboard to get the water around the system between boiler and radiators - if we want gravity fed radiators from a back boiler, we'd need to have conventional radiators fitted in place of the fins, which adds cost and significant time to our moving in date. If we have gas heating we're reliant on gas, which is something we distinctly want to avoid if possible, but that's what we've chosen for now, as a temporary measure. Once we get the stove fitted, we're hoping that it will be enough to heat the entire boat, which is what we've heard from various people, and, having thought about it, that must be the traditional way of heating a canal boat?

So the repair of the boiler is imminent! Also, due to corrosion inside the water tank we won't have running water from the tank when we move on, and we'll need some good weather to empty, then clean, then repaint the tank - before we can use it at all! AGH! We've been going over numerous ways around it, such as using a large, very strong, inflatable plastic container for water, positioned inside the tank, but obviously connecting that to the plumbing would be very difficult I imagine. There is not enough access space to fit a stainless steel tank either, which would be preferable to storing our drinking water in a tank coated with bitumin-based paint. Hmmmm. But the bitumin-painted tank looks like our only option. So initially we'll be on constant runs to the water point with our new 10 and 15 litre tanks!

Once the boiler is fitted we'll have the gas test done, which will determine whether or not the cooker works! Fingers crossed... Also, Trevor can swoop in heroically once the boiler's done and issue us with a BSC.

Also, insurance is a fun thing, generally speaking we can't seem to find insurance for a boat that doesn't have a BSC, so we can't complete the final purchase until this order of things is completed:

Boiler repaired
Gas test performed
Gas work checked and BSC issued
Insurance issued
Final purchase

Or something like that. Apparently it's possible for an insurance company to insure a boat without a BSC under certain strict conditions, so we're investigating those conditions...

The exciting list of things we need to find for the boat / jobs we need to perform on the boat is over 30 items long now... Seems like the more we do, the more needs doing! More to follow soon!

Spending time vs. Spending money...

2009-02-21T01:03:00.002Z

Still waiting to hear back from the marina on one or two things, and our legs are getting tired of all this solid ground to walk around on!

Yesterday we visited some friends of Jem's from way back, Kate & Corwen, who are currently renovating their gorgeously unique narrowboat, The Duke of Bridgewater, which has quite a history behind it! Judging by what they told us and from the photos on the boat's webpage here, it's been a hell of a project! And how many narrowboats are fitted out with hemp insulation?! And that's nothing compared to some of the things they have planned for it! Can't wait to see how it turns out in the months and years to come...

Our less idle thoughts have been turned towards various aspects of Wils, and we've decided to go for a wood burning stove (nothing new there) but with a back boiler feeding into our fin radiators, and hopefully the calorifier too, thus negating our reliance on gas for all things but cooking. It's a case of preferring to have to take the time to chop the wood rather than the time to work to earn the money in order to buy the gas. And that ain't all, folks...

I've said from day one that I don't want a washing machine onboard, for me that falls into the catagory of trying to bring modern house life onto the boat, and a convenient modern lifestyle isn't something I'm hunting for in any sense. We shan't have a washing machine, so instead we're investigating the world of washboards, copper possers (thanks Kate & Corwen!) and mangles! Yes, it's more work but work is just what I'm after; it's electricity and convenience living and unecessary machinery that I'm trying to escape from! A little bit of hard work can't be a bad thing, right? And the thought of mangling away on the towpath in the early morning mist is very tempting... Make that the midday mist, and it's almost a realistic image!

Hand powered water pumps are looking attractive too, given what we've been hearing about burst pipes causing pumps to turn on and flood boats... Simply it's electricity and gas NO - natural power YES! I know we're reliant on a thumping great diesel engine for the time being - but one step at a time! The day I find a sufficiently large collection of swan-sized harnesses then we'll really be away! Swan-drawn boating, it's the future. Maybe!

The survey's done! We're creeping towards completion...

2009-02-19T00:27:00.005Z

Hot off the press, a few photos first:

Wils, as she looked moored up this morning...

Simon, Anne, me and Jem on the Grand Tour!

Two days ago, when the sun was out. Briefly!

Quite a major day for us newly initiated boaty types... Our in-water survey took place this morning so Jem and I drove up to the marina to meet the surveyor and talk it over, which was great because he was able to show us in person exactly what was what, rather than us having to piece it together from the written report.

Suffice to say, all is well, on the whole! As with any surveyor's report, it was up and down but the ups far outweighed the downs so we're still legging this project through the darkness of First Time Buyers Tunnel....

Currently we're trying to occupy our time constructively and not get frustrated with how long it's taking to get onboard. This generally takes the form of the weaving/knitting/sketching of any and all things for the boat, hunting out fruit picking/WWOOFing jobs for the summer time, investigating exciting things such as which eco-friendly detergent to use etc.

Without revealing all of the details of the survey before we've completed purchase, it's enough to say that we're still on course, and although the survey has brought a number of things to our attention, we're still positive that this is going to be our home, and soon too. We hope. Ever the optimist*, I'm focusing on the good things we have planned for it.

I've even had dreams lately where I've been sat on the roof, strumming away on the mandolin beside the towpath on a very hot day... I'm sure there was a cold pint there somewhere too... BRING IT ON! I think the roof needs a good scrub before then, though. All in good time... Just let us at it! We've even gone and bought scrubbing brushes in preparation!

The question is, how much more "good time" can it take to get us onboard?

------------------
* Other - "Won't it get cold with all these vents in it?"
Me - "Nah, that's our constant, crisp fresh air supply! People in houses would pay a mint for that kind of real luxury!"

The snow is gone and we've really started planning and preparing!!!!! eep!!

2009-02-15T17:26:00.003Z

Well, I thought it was high time I got myself onto the computer to write a blog seeing as Toby has kindly invited me to!!!

The work on the boat is now moving on and the work on the boiler and gas systems (fingers crossed) should have been completed on Friday. With any luck now we can get the in-water survey done, and a cheque written very soon!! All of a sudden things seem to be moving quickly and are we actually ready yet? Seeing as it shouldn't be too long until we can move in we thought we had better get organised!! Lists have been written and we have quite a few things to get done!

Most of my stuff is packed up now, although I know I need to sort through what I have and what we need... ah another list is to be created!!!

Toby is in the process of packing... I suppose I'm lucky in a way, all of my stuff is in boxes and just needs sorting to make sure I have everything I want. It all seems to be taking time but it has definately helped the last week go quickly! Hopefully within the week we will have everything packed and sorted and will have also been shopping for food essentials and general stuff - dried foods and herbs and spices, washing up liquid etc. I am obviously going to be getting the more eco friendly washing up liquids and I have also been looking into eco friendly shampoos and things. I don't really like the thought of chemicals going into the canal that really shouldn't be there, so we're going to try to be as eco friendly as we can. Toby really liked the idea of growing soapwort and making our own soap and such, but I think we may try and build toward that stage!

Speaking of growing things, our bow garden plans have started and we have literally just ordered some seeds!! This is what we have coming so far...

Nasturtiums
Wild Rocket
Peppermint
Mesclun Mixed Leaf Lettuce
Swiss Chard
Oregano

Toby's going to be on the hunt for his plant pots etc and we're hoping the seeds that we've ordered won't be too much, I can imagine an overgrown mass of green things overflowing in the bow!! I really wanted a potato bin but seeing as that would take up quite a bit of room it seemed unlikely! We're also hoping to supplement our food with things we can forage for, we have a couple of good books so I reckon we'll do quite well, here's hoping anyway!

We decided we don't want to change anything on the boat until we've had a chance to live with it. Then we can make a decision based on experience - there's no point in changing anything and then realising we've done it wrong... mind you, there will probably be times when that does happen. Anyway, through deciding this it made us make some decisions on the music system, the main thing being we won't be taking the tape player out - yet! By chance, in Tescos we found a dirt cheap tape adaptor that can be plugged into mp3 players. This just happens to plug into anything that would take headphones - including the laptop. So we could use the laptop, or an mp3 player! The mp3 player can be charged using Toby's handy portable solar charger and therefore be more economical, which is even better!

We have managed to arrange to see the boat tomorrow!! WOOP WOOP! So we will be taking Toby's Mum, Simon and Anne to see it!! Plus I am very excited at seeing it again and will be making lots of notes of things to get and do etc.

All of a sudden everythings happening and its really exciting! I just cannot wait to get onboard and start our riverway adventures!!

Snow halts everything... Scheming on all things homegrown & home brewed...

2009-02-11T13:09:00.002Z

Work on the boat has been postponed due to the snow, and with only a boiler servicing, an in-water survey and a cheque to write, this is more than a little frustrating! Feels like we're SO close! Jem has packed up all of her wordly goods, and I'm in the process of doing the same, we're really just killing time until the work is finished.

Investigating stove prices and insurance companies are the jobs of the week with regard to the boat and we're trying to decide whether or not to have the stove fitted ASAP or to hang on for a while and rely on the radiators to keep us warm for the first few weeks/months. I think our first cruise will be down the Grand Union from Daventry towards Milton Keynes but nothing's set in stone. We're waiting for the imminent arrival of Millie Bubbles too, Jem's neice-to-be, whose due date is today! She's been pegged as an Aquarian, but Pisces looms...

Also investigating the cost of polytunnel material or similar, to construct our 'Bow Garden' in the near future. Digging out plant pots and old seeds too... I'd like to grow the following but practicalities may change this list considerably:

Swiss Chard
Root Ginger
Garlic
Tomatoes
Numerous herbs
Peppers?
Chestnut Mushrooms
etc

The list is ongoing and very flexible at this stage. I don't think it's very realistic but I'm also looking into growing hops. If it's easily done in a small space (not too likely, so I'm told) then I won't have to buy it for the homebrew! But hops aren't particularly expensive to buy, and neither is the malt I'll be using in my first ales. I've not made homebrew before so I'm hoping to begin on the boat! As long as we can keep the bins at a relatively constant temperature, should be no problem. As for cost, ingredients and equipment seem to be available to buy online for very little, and I might be able to find my mum's glass demijohns which would be amazing, she says if we can find them we can use 'em so why not?! It'll be an ongoing experiment...

Music onboard is another issue, currently Wils is fitted with a tape deck/radio which is inconveniently located on the ceiling right where the future stove flue is going to fit so we're left with an interesting conunderum. Between us, Jem and I have LPs, 45s, CDs, MP3s (and probably a few tapes) that we want to bring with us. What to do? Having a record player onboard, particularly something like an old 50s Dansette, would be great, but storage of records is an issue. Do we copy everything to the laptop? I think we'll rely on CDs o the whole, and buy a small portable player. I'd also like to move the tape player as it is to a different location and run a line-in-tape plugged into the CD player for full-boat audio goodness if we can!

So things are on hold for now. It's beginning to look like the thaw is coming, slowly. Hopefully we'll be able to get up to Welton Hythe on Monday and introduce Simon, Anne and Mum to Wils!

IT'S SNOWING! Oh, and some things are happening with the boat...

2009-02-02T14:19:00.005Z

We've been on tenterhooks for the last week or so, tracking the progress of the dread ship Wilshamstead by phone! We're back down south for the time being, but the marina has kept us updated on things. She was out of the water for a few days at the end of last week, and this morning we had confirmation that the hull replating has been completed and she's back in the water already.

A new gas locker has been constructed in the cratch because apparently it was too awkward to weld the gas locker where it originally sat right down in the bow. So we're going to be using three 6KG bottles rather than the original 2 13KG ones. Easier to lug up and down future towpaths and easier to haul in and out of the locker is my guess.

That might minimize outdoor space in the bow somewhat, but as we're planning to turn it into a greenhouse anyway, I can't see it being a major issue. If anything it'll just give us another shelf on which to sit plants! Is it going to be an issue having our gas bottles in a slightly enclosed space? What we're hoping to construct (or purchase) is a clear cratch cover, hopefully having the gas bottles in there will be okay... We can work our way around the new locker if not.

Now we're trying to get hold of our surveyor to arrange our in-water survey. Boiler servicing is the next job for the marina, and we also had word that the current owners have bought seven (!) new 110 a/h batteries for Wils, to replace the smaller collection of very, very dead ones that are currently sitting inside the stern.

We're investigating potential marinas and how much they charge for moorings, as well as insurance companies, and where we're going to cruise first! The logistical issue of where we're going to be when we start installing new work surfaces, wardrobes, sinks etc - not to mention the stove - is also on our Stuff to Ponder list. As she is currently on the Grand Union I think some exploration there would be a supoib choice.

We've done it!!

2009-01-25T10:19:00.003Z

Last week we visited nearly ten marinas and saw something in the region of fifteen boats. We had a lot of thinking to do, but we finally settled on one in particular, we put our offer in and after a little haggling on price we drove up to Daventry to write a cheque, the deposit is down and the good "ship" Wilshampstead is nearly ours! We're absolutely over the moon!

We had another look around, Jem measured up the curtains and we had a good look at what we might do with the space inside. We're planning to have a multi-fuel stove installed in the saloon. Following a recent hull survey commissioned by the current owners, there is some hull re-plating to be done, particularly on the areas that receive the greatest wear and on the gas lockers. A full service on the boiler/gas system is due too, as is an in-water survey that we're having done once work is completed. All of which means that we have a moving-in date somewhere in the 4-6 week range. Hopefully it'll all go smoothly.

This does give us some time to find the right insurer, to pack up our wordly goods, to prepare ourselves for the move, to look into moorings etc. So I think a photo of our new home is in order!

We're hoping to install a little more storage in the bedroom, space for a small writing desk would be amazing and the consideration of what to do on the washing machine front goes on... Not to mention our ongoing investigations into sustainable energy solutions, we're looking into wind turbines, solar panels, numerous water-based schemes of course and (my personal favourite) a steam powered generator! We're also investigating how best to assuage the wrath of the maritime gods when it comes to changing a boat's name... More to follow soon!

Zen trance, a mad week & the legend of the anti-gravity toilet...

2009-01-20T19:15:00.011Z

In the space of less than one week we've visited nearly ten marinas in search of our new home! We put in an offer for one boat only to have our offer rejected and a subsequent offer voided by some sneaky so-and-so getting a deposit stuck in there minutes before we made our second offer! Thus, yesterday was not great fun. Jem tenaciously scoured the net for boats while I sulked heroically in the next room...

Back to the drawing board. So today marked the start of Boat Hunt Mark II! We visited three marinas today, covering a hundred miles or thereabouts in the car, and some interesting finds it turned up too! One of the things that I've been most impressed with since we started looking for a boat way back in the halcyon mists of 2008 is the energetic and positive advice we've had from all sorts of folk, marina workers, boaters themselves, all sorts. Answering our questions, advice on everything from where it's best to moor up - right up to reasons not to own a pumpout loo if you're cruising up north in the winter, even posing new potential problems to watch out for when looking for boats. At this stage, all advice is welcome.

It seems like the one piece of information we started out with has held out to be the best, if the engine and the hull are sound, that's the main thing. Obviously we don't want something that needs completely rewiring or that needs major work in a serious way, but interior fittings we CAN do! I think. I hope. For one thing it's beginning to look very likely that we'll need to fit a washing machine of some description, as so few narrowboats in our price range seem to have them fitted already! We don't intend to live residentially in a marina so using laundrettes is out of the question for the time being, and it seems there are some really well-designed creations out there for saving space and getting the job done in confined areas, such as wot we will 'ave soon! If we go for a washing machine we'll almost certainly need a new inverter, which could easily set us back another £2000... Food for 'fort! We've probably looked at twenty boats in person by now, and the tiny details of each one just blend one into the other after a while... I was staring at brokerage websites for so long the other day that I thought one boat had an anti-gravity toilet... Which led me to believe I had discovered the hallowed narrowboat-buyers zen trance, when all details are clear even when the website contains only half of the things you need to know, when all you need is a fuzzy exterior photo to tell what size the inverter is and whether the fixed seating in the saloon is comfy or not.... I wish!

In short, the hunt continues, but it feels like we're getting there! One day we'll be river rats!

Toby.

The Hunt Begins!

2009-01-10T19:30:00.000Z

Well this seems like the best possible time to make our first post here! This afternoon marked our first visit to a certain marina in the south west, where we viewed a number of narrowboats, we are hopeful that one of them might just be the thing we're looking for! Until we buy the boat I have an urge to keep the specific names of marinas and potential boats off here, no real reason!

We're looking for something built around 1990 or more recently, narrow not wide, of around 50-60ft, and which isn't a complete wreck inside! We have a growing list of smaller details we'd like to see already installed on our future home, such as a solid fuel stove, not too many (or too few!) thousand hours on the engine, a long time remaining on the BSC, a trad stern if overall length is under 60ft, a decent interior layout - and some hull integrity would be nice! Every search we do in magazines or online turns up more and more potential boats, looks like a well organised road trip around the country's marinas might be necessary!

We've been meticulously researching the entire topic of living aboard, of cruising the British waterways, of maintaining a boat (read: of just how much all of it can cost etc!) in the last few months, and, as with most things that are worth researching, it seems to be a topic of almost infinite depth - my wishlist on Bookmooch.com grows ever longer...

Spirits are high! We're hoping to have found something before the Spring really gets into its stride, well that's the plan anyway...

We're adjusting (at least in our heads for the time being) to what could be quite a major lifestyle change for both of us, but we're so eager that we can't wait to get the deal done and get on with it! There's no rushing some things I guess. I signed up today for two boating forums, both of which look (albeit at a glance) to be packed with info and opinions, which I can't get enough of right now!

THE HUNT HAS BEGUN! HURRAH!!